Life Finds A Way
by tcsced
Summary: Takes place after the events of JWFK and spans the course of about 1.5 years.
1. CHAPTER 1

"Claire? Claire? Claire!"

Claire could hear someone calling her name but the voice sounded echoed and very far away, like she and the other woman were standing at two opposite ends of a long, dark tunnel. Claire was completely spaced out, in a trance and unable to pull herself out of it. The words spoken to her a few seconds prior had sent her mind and what also felt like her body into shock. Her stomach was in knots and she felt lightheaded to the point she felt like she would fall over or pass out if she stood up.

"Ms. Dearing!" Claire finally broke from the spaced out zone she was currently trapped in. She looked up at the doctor. "Claire, are you okay?" Claire finally spoke back. "Yes, I'm uh-fine." The doctor could tell she wasn't fine. "Claire, listen, I know this is very hard to hear. Trust me, this is the hardest part of my job as an OBGYN to have to give this news to my patients. It's never something I want to do. But you need to know what's going on." Claire was looking down at the floor in the doctor's private office and fidgeting with the gold ring on her right index finger. When she finally looked up, Dr. Lloyd held a hand out across her desk to Claire. "Claire, there are other options, you know. You can hire a surrogate, you can adopt, you've adopted a beautiful little girl already, you can do it again." Claire was listening but nothing was making sense.

She had gone in for her annual visit and when the doctor asked if anything was new or if she was experiencing any problems with anything Claire casually mentioned the ongoing pelvic pain she had been having since the incident at Lockwood's estate. It had been a few months since the incident and she and Owen were so busy dealing with allegations and custody over Maisie that she didn't make the time to get in to see her doctor sooner. The pain was bearable most of the time and it came and went so she didn't think much of it most days. She did notice her cycles were off a little bit which was unusual for her, and initially she worried that she was pregnant. She and Owen had found a few opportunities to be intimate since getting back together, but they were careful and used protection every time. She knew anything was possible though. When she told Dr. Lloyd about the pain she was having, the doctor performed a vaginal sonogram and took some x-rays. Claire wasn't surprised when she was told she wasn't pregnant. However, the next piece of news hit her hard in the gut and the pain she had been experiencing was suddenly more intense than ever. The doctor explained to her that the pain was a result of a fractured pelvic bone and that the fracture had covered the span of her entire abdomen, puncturing both of her Fallopian tubes, leaving nowhere for a fertilized egg to go in the reproduction process. Simply put, Claire would more than likely be unable to conceive children of her own. Claire Dearing, the woman who for years never wanted kids or thought she didn't want kids, was now completely stripped of everything that made her feel like a woman, like a person. She needed control in her life and was now no longer in control of her body. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.


	2. CHAPTER 2

Dr. Lloyd asked Claire if she had suffered some type of trauma or injury. All of a sudden, it hit Claire like a ton of bricks. The Indoraptor attack! When he jumped through the glass of the diorama and the large fake tree fell on her and Owen it must have been what fractured her pelvic bone. She remembered that it fell right across her abdomen and pinned her down, giving the dinosaur access to claw her leg open and left her helpless to get away. She had pushed Maisie up seconds before and told her to run. Maisie ran upstairs screaming in fear and the Indoraptor followed her, luckily leaving Claire and Owen somewhat intact and alive. Claire thought back through what happened. She remembered the tree falling across her waist and Owen pulling it off of her. The only pain she felt in that moment, however, was the huge gash in her right thigh caused by the monster's enormous claw. The pain in her leg was so intense it masked the pains she was experiencing everywhere else in and on her body at the time. She remembered feeling faint, like she was about to pass out from the blood she was losing from the gash. She remembered the sight of her brown pant leg turning red from the blood soaking through it. She remembered Owen pulling a rag from his back pocket and placing it tightly down on her leg to apply pressure to the wound to try to stop some of the bleeding. She remembered the rush of emotions she felt in that moment, almost coming face to face with death and needing Owen to know how much she still loved him. She remembered kissing him and how wonderful his lips felt against hers again after so long. She remembered everything that happened afterwards. She never thought about the tree again though. It never registered. Even a few days later when she started to feel the rest of her body aching from all the intense physical shit she'd been through on the island and at the mansion, she didn't pin it on one thing in particular. Claire had chocked up her aching body to a combination of everything they went through. The one tree falling across her waist never triggered her mind again. Now it all made sense though. Although the tree was fake, it was still extremely heavy and lifelike. That must have been what caused the fracture.

She told the doctor this and Dr. Lloyd concluded that if nothing else hit her or fell on her, then that was the cause of the fracture and the pain Claire had been experiencing.

Claire had sacrificed her family while working at the park, never going home to visit her parents or nephews and sister. After the incident at the park she sacrificed her relationship with Owen a few years later to save the dinosaurs and start the Dinosaur Protection Group. Now she suffered the ultimate sacrifice. Her own body. The huge scar on her leg was one thing, but this took on a whole other level of loss she couldn't fathom. So many lives had been lost because of some of the decisions she had made and she still had problems living with that realization every day. Now she couldn't even create a new life herself. A couple of years prior and Claire wouldn't have thought much about this news. She spent most of her life with her mind made up that she didn't want children of her own. Over the course of the past few years her views on this had shifted slightly, however. She spent more time with her nephews after the incident, and the closer she and Owen got, the more she thought of someday having a child or two with him. This was something she kept in the back of her mind, never telling him. She barely admit it to her sister one day when she and Owen were still together the first time and Karen almost died from shock and excitement. Claire shut that down really quickly though. She felt weird at the thought of wanting a child, but she didn't think much of it because she knew if it happened it would be a few years down the road because she wasn't ready for that at the time. When she and Owen broke up she just kept the thought where she felt it belonged...in the back of her mind. She never allowed the thought to travel any farther. Then Maisie came along and Claire didn't know why, but the second she realized Maisie was in danger, she felt the need to rescue her and protect her from anything and anyone who might want to harm her or take her away. Her motherly instincts were much stronger than she ever realized and it freaked her out a little bit. Still, she fell in love with that little girl and vowed to keep her safe and give her as much of a normal life as she could. Thanks to Iris coming through with some forged documents like a birth certificate and social security card, Maisie was seen to the courts as nothing more than Lockwood's granddaughter and Iris's botched version of Lockwood's will mentioned that he wanted Claire to take her in should anything happen to him. Iris felt no remorse for smudging the facts because she knew that Lockwood really liked Claire and so did she. She felt confident if Lockwood were still alive and unable to care for Maisie that he would be comfortable with Claire taking her in. So that was that. After she was cleared of all charges in the animal trafficking legal mess, Claire was granted custody of Maisie. She found herself fighting harder for Maisie than she even needed to, pleading to the judge and explaining all the reasons Maisie would be well taken care of in her custody. Something had shifted in Claire. She couldn't explain it to anyone, let alone herself. But the past few months she did her best to learn what being a parent was all about, and she soon learned that raising a child was hard, but it was a gift at the same time. Luckily, she wasn't alone in learning how to be a parent. Maisie seemed to only bring Claire and Owen closer together and Claire was grateful for that. Now though, more than ever, Claire felt alone. The doctor tried to give her some encouraging words on her way out the door. She even handed Claire a business card for a therapist which Claire threw in the console of her car. It was too much to think about. How could she go talk to a perfect stranger about her reproductive problems when she couldn't even face the facts herself just yet?


	3. CHAPTER 3

Claire drove home to her apartment. The three of them were living there during the week and went to the cabin on the weekends. Owen was close to finishing the cabin so he was spending more time during the week with them in the city. Claire knew he would probably be home when she got there. She had taken the day off from work and had planned to spend the afternoon with Owen after her appointment while Maisie was still at school. Suddenly she heard a loud horn and looked up to see she had run a red light and almost hit someone. She knew she had to focus on the road at least until she got home. Five minutes later she pulled into the garage attached to her condo and got on the elevator to go up to the eighth floor. She entered her apartment and thankfully no one was home. She needed a few minutes to herself. She didn't know when or how she was going to tell Owen the news. "This is what you always wanted. This is good news." Claire tried to reason with herself but she knew in her heart that she probably wanted to have at least one child of her own one day, even if the time wasn't now. She suddenly felt dizzy and managed to make it to her bathroom. She splashed some cold water on her face and looked in the mirror. Her waterproof mascara was still perfect, but she didn't know how long that would last. Claire walked into her bedroom and sat at the foot of her bed. She wanted to crawl under the covers and never come out, but she knew that wasn't an option. She tried to gather herself. Her hands rested on her knees until she realized she was pressing down on her wound and she quickly lifted her right hand. She wondered if every inch of her body was going to ache for the rest of her life. She also wondered how Owen would react. Would he be upset? Would he leave her? Her mind was racing so fast she couldn't keep up. She felt like she might hyperventilate at any moment.


	4. CHAPTER 4

Suddenly she heard the door to her apartment open and heard Owen calling out for her. "Claire? Babe, you here?" Claire tried not to look upset and walked into the living room to greet Owen. "Hey, how was your appointment? Everything good?" He seemed genuinely interested. "Everything is fine." She was short with him and he picked up on her tone immediately. He put his hands on her shoulders and made her look him in the eyes. "Claire, what's wrong? You don't seem fine." Claire hated the fact that Owen could read her like an open book. No matter how hard she tried to hide her emotions from him sometimes, he always saw right through her. It was something she despised and loved about him at the same time. "Really, everything is fine. I'm just a little tired." If Owen knew one thing about Claire it was that she was never "tired." She had more energy than anyone he had ever known. He gave her a little smirk and said something that he would later regret. "Uh oh, are you having my baby? Is that why you're tired?" Before Claire knew it she had him pinned against the living room wall. "Owen, you son of a bitch! Go to Hell!" She started slapping his arms and punching his chest. He had never seen her like this before. Usually he would think this kind of behavior was sexy about her but in the moment he was a little frightened of her and for her. "Claire, calm down! I'm sorry!" Assuming he got her pregnant, he began to apologize some more. "Look, we were careful every single time. It must have broken when I put it on, I don't know, I-" Claire was punching him in the chest with both fists. "Owen, just shut the Hell up for two seconds, just shut up!" He finally stopped talking. She kept shouting at him to shut up even after he had stopped. "Claire, I'm-" She stopped him again. "Owen, you talk more than a damn woman, you know that?" He grabbed her wrists, but not tight enough to hurt her, and held them out to her sides to stop her from bruising the Hell out of his chest. She stopped yelling and stood still for a few seconds looking at him while he looked at her and tried to make sense of her actions. She could feel the tears beginning to well up in her eyes and she jerked her wrists out from his strong hands and turned around to walk back into her bedroom. She knew he would follow her and he did. She sat back down on the foot of her bed and he knelt down in front of her. Claire leaned over and buried her face in her hands. She started sobbing uncontrollably and he immediately placed his arms around her, bringing her head to rest on his chest. He consumed her in his arms for a couple of minutes and let her cry, still not sure if she was upset because she was pregnant or if something else was wrong. He decided it was best to just stop asking questions or assume anything and let her tell him when she was ready. She finally calmed down enough to look at him and apologize for the way she acted towards him. A part of her felt bad for treating him the way she did because he didn't know what was going on. He was the only one there though, and she had to take her frustrations out on someone. "Claire, please tell me what's going on. You're scaring me a little bit." She could see that he genuinely was frightened. She could see how much he loved her and truly worried about her. It hurt her more than anything else that she could not give him something she assumed he would want from her at some point. She got up from the bed, crossed her arms and walked to the window of her bedroom and looked outside at the bustling city below them. She continued to stare out the window instead of looking at him. "Owen, do you know what it's like to not want something your entire life, and then to finally change your mind and decide you want it, only to find out you can't have it?" Owen looked at her confused. "Claire, you're gonna have to be a little more specific." Claire didn't want to repeat the news the doctor had given her just an hour earlier, but she somehow managed to look at Owen and spit it out. "Owen, I'm not pregnant. I'm fact, I probably will never get pregnant. I can't have children." She turned to look out the window again, not wanting him to see her crying again from the pain saying those words out loud caused her. He looked at her with wide eyes trying to process what she just said. He assumed Maisie would be their only kid because he knew how Claire previously felt about having children and she never expressed anything otherwise to him over the years. He would have loved to have a child with Claire naturally but he never realized she had changed her mind about having a child of her own with him one day. His heart broke into a million pieces for her. "Claire, what?! What do you mean you can't have children? How does the doctor know this? I thought you were just going for your regular annual visit!" She explained to him what she told the doctor about the abdominal pain she had been having and how the doctor took some x-rays and a vaginal sonogram and confirmed it. She reminded him of the tree that fell on both of them and how heavy it was for him to roll it off of her. Owen stood across from her in their bedroom unable to move. It was his turn to be in shock. His jaw hung to the ground and he tried to move it to speak but no words would come out. Owen was always good with kids. She had seen him interact with kids when they worked at the park and he was always great with her nephews. She saw how amazing he was with Maisie every day. He never said it out loud to her, but Claire knew in her heart that he would love to have kids of his own one day and be a dad to more than Maisie. She feared this would be the thing that would split them apart for good. However, she felt it wasn't fair to Owen to not be able to have a child that shared his DNA one day. With her arms still crossed, she walked up to him and told him if he wanted to leave, she understood. "Owen, listen, you deserve someone who can give you a child, a real family. I don't want you to feel trapped here. I'm sorry I've ruined your life more than once, actually more than twice now." Claire couldn't bare to see the pain on his face and she turned to leave her bedroom, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back into his arms. He was angry at the fact that she thought he would ever leave her over something like this. "Claire Elizabeth Dearing, if you think I'm going to leave you or that you've ruined my life over this, then you clearly don't know me like I thought you did." He said her full name like she was a child who had gotten in trouble and was being scolded. He shook her in his arms and continued on. "Claire, I'm so incredibly sorry. I had no idea. But this doesn't mean I want to leave you. My God woman, do you hear yourself when you talk sometimes? If you think I would leave because you can't physically carry my child then you are the dumbest woman I've ever met in my life." Claire didn't like to be called dumb. In fact, she had never been called dumb to her face at least. She had made some poor decisions in her life, but to her knowledge, no one had ever called her dumb. "I'm not dumb, you asshole! I just don't want to hold you back from being happy. And if you can't see that that's all I want for you then you're a dumb fool yourself!" Owen loved bickering with Claire. It was something they were great at together. But this was not the time to bicker and argue. "Besides, I never wanted kids of my own anyway. Maisie is the exception. So I guess I got what I wanted. But I know you probably want more and you deserve more. You deserve better." Owen didn't believe her words for one second. He knew how she felt about children in the past and the subject of children was something that didn't really come up when they were together the first time because he knew she had grown to be more comfortable around kids, especially her nephews, but he knew she was nowhere near ready to even talk about having any of her own. However, he could see how Maisie had changed her. Watching her comfort Maisie in her room after a nightmare or showing her pictures and souvenirs from their time working at Jurassic World or going for walks around the lake together holding hands, he could see that Claire was picking up on that whole parenting thing like it was a walk in the park. It was making him fall more in love with her every time he witnessed her showing her love and affection towards Maisie. Even if she wasn't ready to have any children of her own right now, he didn't believe her anymore when she said she didn't want any at all, ever.


	5. CHAPTER 5

Claire managed to break free from his hold and walk back into the living room. She couldn't face Owen anymore. She needed some air. She went to grab her keys to leave to go pick Maisie up from school, but when she got to the front door it was blocked. "Owen, move out of my way!" He was so muscular and tall and buff but she could always hold her own against him. This time, he wouldn't budge an inch for her. "No ma'am, you're not going anywhere upset like that. You could get into an accident. I'll go pick Maisie up or you can come with me and be the passenger." Here she was being told she couldn't drive a vehicle again. It sometimes seemed to her that Owen only thought she was good enough to drive a vehicle when they were being chased by dinosaurs or lava and it pissed her off. "Damn it, Owen, move! I don't want to argue with you anymore today. Please just let me go!" He grabbed the keys from her hand. "Claire, either sit down on the couch or the bed or the passenger seat in the car but you're not driving anywhere." He was not going to sacrifice her safety for her pride. She pushed him against the door as hard as she could and yelled, "You know what, fuck it. And fuck you!" Claire had a mouth on her sometimes but it took a lot for her to spit out the "f bomb". Owen couldn't imagine how life changing this was for her so he didn't take any of it personally except the part where she thought he'd be happier with someone else. He didn't say a word back and turned to leave. He hated to leave her like this. He begged her to just ride with him to the school, but she wouldn't go with him. "Claire, we're not done talking about this. I'll be right back. I love you." He tried to kiss her but she pushed him against the door again. Claire sat on the couch with her face in her hands crying uncontrollably for 30 minutes. Just another one of her sorry decisions in life she thought. She blamed herself for causing this. If only she had never gone to the island, if only she had listened with her head instead of her heart like she used to, she wouldn't be in this situation. Then she thought about what she would have been missing had she never gone back to the island. She possibly wouldn't have Owen back in her life and she definitely wouldn't have Maisie in her life. The thought of this calmed her down long enough to help her stand and walk back to her bathroom to freshen up before Owen got back home with Maisie.


	6. CHAPTER 6

When Owen and Maisie walked through the door ten minutes later, Claire was calm and had collected herself. She didn't want to say anything to Maisie yet and had told Owen not to say anything to her before he left to go pick her up from school. "Claire, I have to show you this project we're doing next week! It's about dinosaurs and how they're endangered and we get to pick one species and do a report on them! Owen said you both could help me!" Claire looked at the little girl with sad eyes that she hoped Maisie couldn't pick up on. She thought of Maisie as her own, especially since the custody battle and adoption went through, but she thought about what it would be like to teach a young child new things and the thought that she would never have this with a child of her own made her stumble upon her words. "Yes, sweetie, I will...I mean, Owen and I will help you." Claire went to the kitchen to start dinner. She had promised Maisie her favorite meal, lasagna that night, even though she had no appetite of her own to eat anything. Maisie went to her room to start on some homework and Owen met Claire in the kitchen. She was standing at the stove and he came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. Claire pulled away from him and told him she didn't want to be touched. Owen tried to talk to her but she made it clear the conversation would have to wait. Claire was very quiet during dinner, something Maisie thought seemed odd. Claire usually asked Maisie about her day at school and they talked about her homework and if she needed their help with anything. Owen tried to make conversation but Maisie could tell something was up. She finally put her fork down on her plate and questioned the two adults sitting across from her. "Did you guys have a fight or something?" Claire looked at Owen then back at Maisie. "No, we didn't. I'm just tired sweetie." Claire knew Maisie was smarter than that but luckily Maisie let it go from there. Maisie went back to her room to finish her homework after dinner and Claire and Owen cleaned up the kitchen. She still refused to talk to him about the news. He wanted so badly to just hold her and comfort her. Maisie came out of her room after a little while and asked if they could go out for ice cream for dessert. Before Claire knew it she was yelling at Maisie, and didn't know why. "There is ice cream in the freezer. We are not going out when there is food here!" Maisie looked confused at Claire. She didn't ask very often to go out for ice cream or anything in general, and she had never seen Claire get so upset over a simple request. "I just asked a simple question. I'm sorry," she said back to Claire. Claire snapped, "just go to your room!" "Claire!" Owen snapped back at Claire. Maisie stood there in shock and eventually turned around and stomped to her bedroom. Claire grabbed on to the kitchen counter and started hyperventilating. She was way in over her head with emotions. Owen grabbed on to her and walked her to the living room. He sat down next to her on the couch and put his arm around her shoulders but she pushed him away again. "Just please leave me alone, Owen! I just want to be alone!" He knew she needed some space but it killed him to not be able to wrap her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay.


	7. CHAPTER 7

Owen knew Claire didn't mean to snap at Maisie. He went to Maisie's room to check on her. She was already in her pajamas sitting Indian style on her bed reading a book. She glared at him when he opened her door. He sat down on the bed next to her and tried to make casual conversation, but Maisie wasn't buying it. Finally, he decided to try to apologize on Claire's behalf. "Maisie, listen, I'm sorry about what happened earlier." Maisie kept her head in her book and mumbled back, "Why? You didn't do anything." Owen continued on. "I know baby, but Claire is having a really bad day and she didn't mean to snap off on you. You know she loves you with all her heart." Maisie finally looked up from her book. "Then why didn't she come in here and apologize herself?" Owen knew Claire would in time. "She probably will, but she just needs some space right now, some time to herself. She got some really bad news today but it's not my time or place to talk to you about it so just promise me you'll be accepting of her apology when she makes it, okay?" Maisie reluctantly nodded, then asked, "Is Claire okay, Owen?" He didn't know how to answer that question truthfully. "Hopefully she will be. But she's not going anywhere, okay?" Maisie leaned in to give him a hug and said, "Okay, good, because even though she yelled at me I still love her and don't want anything bad to happen to her." He hugged her back and assured her that everything would be okay in time. Owen tucked Maisie in and told her she could continue reading as long as her lights were off by 9:00. He poked his head around the corner into the living room and saw Claire lying in the fetal position on the couch. At least she was finally quiet and still. He reluctantly decided to respect her request to be alone for a little while and went into his and Claire's bedroom. He got into bed and turned the television on. He tried to focus on a ballgame but couldn't stop thinking about what Claire must have been going through.


	8. CHAPTER 8

Owen woke up and looked at his cell phone on the night stand next to him. It was almost midnight. He had dozed off for a few hours. He looked over and saw that Claire's side of the bed was empty. He got up and walked into the living room to find all the lights still on. When he walked around to the front of the couch he found her curled up, still in the fetal position sound asleep. She had finally fallen asleep too. He couldn't help but smile at her. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, especially when she was sleeping. One of his favorite activities was to lie in bed and just watch her sleep sometimes. Claire was constantly wound up, always moving, always working. When she finally sat still long enough to relax and sleep she looked so peaceful. He walked over and scooped her up in his arms. She sleepily wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her to their bedroom. He was surprised she didn't push him away again. She was still dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a blouse with her bright red her hair pinned up in her famous ponytail. He wanted to get her out of her clothes and into something more comfortable to sleep in but he knew that would just wake her up even more so he left her alone. He pulled the covers over her and crawled back in bed next to her and turned off the television. He scooted over to her and put one arm under her head to allow her to curl up next to him and it worked. He kissed her on the forehead. A few minutes later he found himself dozing off again while watching her sleep with her head on his chest.


	9. CHAPTER 9

The next morning Claire woke up and realized she was still in her clothes from the day before. Suddenly she remembered the news she had been given less than 24 hours prior. She looked over and saw Owen still sleeping peacefully. Claire then realized she didn't remember coming to bed. He must have carried her to bed from the couch and covered her up. This man. This proud, stubborn but charming, caring man took care of her last night. After the way she treated him she didn't understand why he would make sure she was comfortable. No matter what, he always made sure she was okay. Claire didn't want him to leave. She just wanted him to know he didn't have to be stuck with her if he wanted a bigger family. If it took leaving her to find happiness then she understood. She propped herself up and kissed him lightly on the lips, careful not to wake him, and quietly scooted out of bed and walked down the hall to Maisie's room. Maisie was curled up in her bed sound asleep with a book lying on top of her chest. Claire walked over and removed the book and ran her hand over Maisie's hair. She kissed her on her forehead and let her sleep a little more before waking her up for school. She knew Maisie would not be in the most pleasant mood when she woke up due to what happened the night before, but in that moment she relished in the way Maisie could always make her smile. Claire went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. She looked at her phone to see if she had any texts or messages from Zia or anyone at work. She had to finish writing a few proposals to some politicians and tried to focus on that. A few minutes later she heard the coffee pot go off and made herself a cup and walked over to the mantle above her fireplace. It was lined with a couple of pictures, mostly selfies taken of her and Owen and Maisie. There was one Maisie had snapped of Claire and Owen. He closed his eyes and kissed her on the cheek at the last second before Maisie snapped the photo. It was Claire's favorite picture of the her and Owen together. There were a few of all three of them together and one with her and Maisie and one with Owen and Maisie. She sipped her coffee and tried to keep the tears from spilling out of her eyes but she failed. She had come face to face with the ultimate sacrifice, but in return she had the family she needed the most in that moment. Claire stood there and thought about how grateful she was to have the two of them in her life. Not being able to conceive a child of her own would be something she knew would be difficult to deal with for a long time but she decided to be thankful for the child she already had and deal with the rest the best way she could. She told herself there would be good days and bad days but that she had the two people she needed most to lean on.


	10. CHAPTER 10

"Morning." Claire heard a small voice behind her. Maisie was standing in the doorway of the living room still in her pajamas. Claire turned to face Maisie and motioned for her to come sit on the couch next to her. Maisie sat down and Claire put her arm around Maisie's shoulder. She wanted to make it clear right away that she did not mean to upset Maisie the night before. The child crossed her arms and looked up at Claire with sleepy eyes and listened. "Maisie, I want to tell you how sorry I am for yelling at you last night for no reason. You did nothing wrong and I shouldn't have jumped on you like I did, and I'm very sorry." Maisie could tell Claire had been crying. "It's okay, Claire. Owen told me you had a bad day and that you would tell me about it. I'm not mad anymore." Claire was relieved to hear this. She didn't know if Maisie needed reassuring as to how much she loved her but Claire made it clear once more just to be safe. "Maisie, I love you, okay? You know I love you, right?" Maisie leaned in to Claire's side and wrapped her arms around Claire's waist. "Of course I know that. And I love you too, Claire." Owen walked in as they were sharing their hug and looked happy to see they had made up. He decided to joke around with Maisie. "Mais, where's breakfast? I thought you were cooking eggs, bacon and waffles this morning!" Maisie giggled and got up to toss some pop tarts in the toaster before getting dressed for school. Claire made her a sandwich for school and cut up some fruit for her as well. When Maisie went to her bedroom to get dressed Owen cornered Claire in the kitchen. "So are we gonna talk some more about what's going on, Claire?" Claire didn't want to deal with the situation so early in the morning. She reasoned with him. "We will talk about it Owen, I promise. Just not right now though. I have to get ready for work." Owen was a little surprised she was going to work a day after getting such life altering news. "You're going to work today? Are you sure?" Claire turned and looked at him before leaving the kitchen to get herself ready. "I have to go to work Owen. I have too much to get done up there, plus it will keep my mind occupied on other things so I won't have to think about this all day." He looked crushed. "I wasn't going to go to the cabin today. I was going to spend the day with you." She walked back over and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands found her waist and he pulled her in until their bodies were completely pressed against each other. Claire reached up and kissed Owen as passionately as she could without crying again. "Owen, thank you." "For what?" This Claire was completely different than the one he experienced the night before. "For putting me to bed last night, for just taking care of me in general. I don't need anyone to take care of me. I can take care of myself. I always have. But the fact that you insist on trying and succeeding shows what kind of person you are. I love you." He pulled her in slowly for another kiss. "Go to work. I know you want to. Try to have a good day. We'll finish talking about everything tonight." She pulled away to go to her bedroom to get ready. "Claire?" She turned back at the sound of her name. "Everything is going to be okay. We're going to get through this together. I'm not going anywhere. You need to know that. And I love you too." She gave Owen a small smile and continued on to her bedroom.


	11. CHAPTER 11

It was Friday. Claire tried to focus on her work once she got to the office but instead found herself telling Zia everything quietly at her desk. She didn't want everyone at work to know all of her personal business but Zia could tell Claire was not her usual perky self and she started to pry. Zia was more than just an employee to her. They were good friends. They had been through a lot together and had grown closer since the incident. Claire told Zia how her doctor's appointment went and the life shattering news she received. Zia told Claire how sorry she was and advised her to talk to her sister too. Claire didn't want her family involved in any of this. She knew there would be a lot less drama if her sister and parents never knew about it in the first place. Then she realized if they started seeing how happy she was with Owen back in her life and now Maisie, they would eventually start pestering her about having more children. The thought of them hovering over her reproductive life and having to tell them at that point would crush them even more so during lunch she decided to call Karen. Claire told her everything. She was sitting in her car, not wanting everyone in her office to hear her, as she did not have the luxury of having her own private office like she did at the park. "Claire, I'm coming out there this weekend!" Claire was not having that. "Karen, listen to me. I'm going to be okay. You are not coming out here. There's nothing you can do about it anyway." Karen was silent for a few seconds before responding to the last statement Claire made. She finally spoke up. "Claire, you're my baby sister. I am obligated to look out for you." Claire never liked being referred to as the "baby sister". She was a grown adult and had been for the past 15 years. "Karen! No! I'm going away this weekend anyway with Owen and Maisie. We already had our weekend planned. I won't be home. I can deal with this on my own. I have Owen to lean on. I didn't want kids anyway, remember? Maisie is the most amazing exception to that but I will be fine if I don't have anymore." Karen knew part of this wasn't true. She had witnessed a change in Claire since the incident at the park a few years prior and knew Claire had a little baby fever in her now and then. Karen assured Claire that if she needed anything at all she could always call her. Claire made her sister also promise not to tell their parents just yet. Karen promised and then tried to lighten the mood on the phone. "So where are you guys going this weekend?" Claire was thrown off. The part about going away for the weekend was a lie to get her sister off her back and to keep her from coming out to San Francisco to "baby" her. They really had no plans to go anywhere over the weekend, except maybe to the cabin and van. Claire responded as quickly as she could, "We're going to the beach." Karen didn't buy it for one second but she played along. She knew Claire was not a fan of the sun, having such fair skin. She wondered how Claire made it all those years on the island without frying but then she remembered Claire spent most of her time in her office or in the control room. She wished her sister well and told her to call her soon. Claire promised she would call her soon and talk to Zach and Gray next time as well. Getting through the rest of the day was a struggle.


	12. CHAPTER 12

Claire managed to get one of her three proposals finished and decided to send everyone home an hour early. After everyone was gone Claire sat alone in the large warehouse office that was home to her precious DPG. This office and this organization were her second home, her second family. She had given up so much for the dinosaurs to live safely and freely without human pestering and even that was something she felt like she failed at most of the time. Now that they were roaming openly all over the country, she felt more of an obligation than ever to capture them safely and raise money to create a sanctuary on a remote island where they could live out the rest of their lives without humans causing any harm to them or their environment. Although Claire did not agree with how Lockwood had created Maisie, she still shared the same passion as he did about saving the dinosaurs. Iris handed Claire an envelope the day of the custody hearing. Inside was a note written by Lockwood that read, "Ms. Dearing, Claire, I want you to have this as a token of my appreciation and my support for what you are doing to save and protect these majestic creatures. Everything you may need is in here. The rest of my money goes to my granddaughter when I reach the other side one day. Please take this money and use it how you wish. If you need any of it for personal reasons please use it, but first and foremost, please use it to keep your amazing foundation alive and thriving. Sincerely, Benjamin Lockwood". Inside was a check made out to Claire for an amount of money Claire didn't even know what to do with. She had a business account for the DPG and placed all of the money into that account. Having always been careful with her own money, Claire still had enough in savings and some left from her settlement money from Jurassic World to get along fine personally. She had used a large chunk of her settlement check to start and fund the DPG, but she never imagined she would be handed something that would allow her to keep it going for as long as she wanted and then some. Iris also gave her the check that was addressed to Maisie. Claire put it into a separate account with her's and Maisie's name on it, and told Maisie when she turned 18, Claire would remove her name from the account and it would be solely Maisie's. She could have full access to it and use it how she wanted to as long as she used it wisely. Claire was determined to take care of Maisie financially on her own until then. That was the deal she struck with herself and the judge until the child turned 18 and technically became an adult. Claire and Owen agreed to put her through college as well and help her out in any way possible until she was ready to move out on her own one day. Iris had encouraged Claire to use any of that money for Maisie before then if she needed to. Claire looked around the old warehouse that housed the DPG. There were drawings on the walls that kids from various schools had drawn and given to her. Part of her work included going to elementary schools and teaching kids the importance of dinosaur protection and preservation. This had become one of her favorite things to do with the DPG. The thoughts crossed her mind again. She would never get to tell her own children about dinosaurs and the amazing things she used to experience while being around them. She would never get to hold her own baby in her arms. She would never get to tell her own child how much she loved him or her. Claire could feel her head pounding and laid it down on her desk. A few minutes later she looked at her watch and realized she was late picking Maisie up from school.


	13. CHAPTER 13

That night the three of them ate dinner, mostly in silence again but Claire agreed to go out for ice cream Saturday afternoon. Later that evening she decided to tell Maisie what was going on. She sat on Maisie's bed and braided her hair so it would be wavy the next day, per Maisie's request. Claire tried to explain everything to Maisie as diplomatically as she could without going into detail about how babies are made in the first place. She still felt that was a topic that could wait a few more years. Upon hearing everything Claire had told her, Maisie jumped into Claire's arms and sobbed with her for what seemed like an hour, although it had only been 20 minutes. "Mais, listen to me sweetie. You are my number one. No matter what happens, even if by some crazy miracle I ever have a baby myself, you will always be my first child. I love you as if I carried you under my own heart for nine months and gave birth to you myself. You need to know and understand that. But I don't want to try to replace your grandfather. I know how much you loved him and still do." This child had only been in her life a few months but they had grown to love each other in a way they were both still trying to understand. Claire figured it was the strong love and passion for the dinosaurs that bonded them and brought them together. Either way, she was just glad Maisie was in her life. Maisie leaned in and kissed Claire as hard as she could on the cheek and said, "Claire, don't tell the baby if you ever have one but you will always be my mom first, and his or hers second." She winked at Claire and Claire melted into her arms. Maisie asked a few questions about being a sibling which tore Claire apart because she was almost certain she would never be able to give Maisie a sibling unless she and Owen decided to adopt another child one day. Claire had decided going through a surrogate would be too personal and painful for her to watch another woman carry her child. She and Maisie talked for a little while and then she tucked Maisie into bed. Claire got ready to get up and say goodnight to Maisie and then Maisie made one more request for the night. "Claire, will you lay with me until I fall asleep?" Claire had done this plenty of times already, having rushed into Maisie's room on numerous nights in the middle of one of Maisie's nightmares. She laid down next to her child and they faced each other. Claire brushed the hair falling into Maisie's face away and caressed her head until she fell asleep.


	14. CHAPTER 14

Claire quietly got up and walked into the kitchen expecting to still see the dinner dishes piled in the sink needing to be washed. However, the sink was empty and the kitchen was clean. There was only the light above the stove and one lamp in the living room still turned on. Owen was nowhere to be found at the front of the apartment. Claire turned off the two lights and made her way to their bedroom. There she found him. He was sitting at the foot of the bed with his hands clasped in his lap, looking down at the ground. She walked over to him and stood in between his knees. He looked up at her and she could see he had tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she placed her hands around the back of his neck and pulled his head into her chest. She then leaned in and rested her head on top of his. They held this position for a few minutes, lightly rocking each other back and forth, not saying anything to one another. He was hurting for her so bad. Owen finally broke free of Claire's hold and stood up to face her. He reached down to the bottom of her sweater and pulled it over her arms and head. He then reached for the tank top she was wearing under her sweater and did the same thing. Claire kept her eyes locked on his the whole time. She was too vulnerable to stop him in that moment and just let him continue with whatever his intentions were. He then reached down and cupped his hands around the waistband of her jeans and found the button and zipper. He knelt and pulled them down with him and released them from the pile they created around her feet on the floor. She was silently watching his every move. They were supposed to be talking, not doing whatever they were doing, but Claire could tell he wanted to talk to her about everything, even if it had to wait until the love fest was over first. She told herself she would go for whatever he had planned for the two of them that night. Owen was still knelt down and was now eye level with the huge scar on her lower right thigh. He studied it for a moment. There were still marks and small holes in her flesh from the two layers of stitches and a round of staples used to stitch her up at the hospital after the incident. The internal stitches had dissolved but the outer layer of stitches and the staples had just been removed about a month prior and Claire's leg still looked pretty bad to him. His eyes traveled up to her face and right back down to the wound. She ran her fingers through his hair. He gently kissed her wound. He then stood up and removed the clip from the back of her head that was holding her bun in place. She rarely let her hair down completely even at night when she slept. Owen wanted her to be free from everything that was pinning her up or down. He reached around and carefully unclasped her necklace and then did the same to her bracelet. Her simple gold jewelry always looked so elegant with her bright red hair and beautiful green eyes. Owen always thought she looked so classy. He removed the gold ring from her right index finger but left her earrings intact, as he knew she rarely ever took them out. He walked over to her jewelry box on top of her dresser and gently placed the pieces in the right compartments. He then walked back over to Claire and stood in front of her. He kissed her on the lips slowly and gently, bringing his hands up to cup her cheeks. His hands traveled over her shoulders and down her back until they reached the clasp of her bra. He unhooked it and gently pulled it off of her. "You are the most beautiful thing in my world," he whispered into her ear. The only garment left on her body was her underwear. Claire was surprised by his next move. He reached for her favorite tank top she liked to sleep in at the foot of the bed and placed it over her head and arms and pulled it down around her waist. He was already dressed in a t-shirt and boxers himself. Claire thought they were going in a different direction and looked at Owen with confusion in her eyes. He spent all this time undressing her only to redress her in...her pajamas? He reached down and took her hand in his and walked with her to her side of the bed. She got in and he pulled the covers up to her waist. He then walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in next to her. They had a king sized bed but always managed to end up in the middle together. He extended his arm for her to lean in to him and she did. Claire thought he was going to make love to her. Instead he found the most intimate way to tuck her in to go to sleep, literally. This was one of the most beautiful things she had ever witnessed out of him. He could be so tough and stubborn sometimes but he could also be so tender and soothing too.


	15. CHAPTER 15

"Okay, let's talk." Owen's voice sounded a little stern all of a sudden but then he leaned in and kissed Claire's forehead. She was getting mixed signals from him and didn't know how to react. Claire remained quiet for a few seconds, trying to find a good way to start the conversation, but Owen was ready to get down to business. "Claire, listen to me. I can't begin to comprehend what you're going through. I don't know that I would have acted any better last night had I been in your shoes. You pack a good punch though." He winked at her. Owen always knew how to lighten the mood in the middle of a serious conversation. "Claire, you need to know something though. No matter how you choose to deal with this, I am right here by your side. I have your back 100%. I didn't even know you wanted to have children, Maisie being the exception of course. But if you do and you decide to go forth with an alternate option one day I'm right there with you. Okay?" He waited for her to respond but she just laid there with her head on his chest quietly. "Okay," he sighed. He figured she didn't feel like talking after all, and he didn't want to push her. He knew how difficult it must have been for her to talk about, especially since it was still new and fresh. A few minutes later she looked up at him with red, teary eyes. He didn't realize she had been crying on his chest the whole time. She was so quiet. She then opened up to him in a way he had never seen her do before. "Owen, I never wanted kids. You know that. I was always career minded and driven to succeed. I had everything I wanted. And then everything came crashing down. The incident happened and the park closed and we left the island and came back to the states. Those two years we spent together after everything happened opened my eyes to the world outside of the island. You forced me to look at things a little differently. You showed me how to love and be loved. I've never had anyone in my life that loved me the way you did. And then that came crashing down too even though I never stopped loving you. And we never talked about kids. But I could always tell you wanted them. You were so good with Zach and Gray at the park and the times we visited them and they came to visit us afterwards. And you're so amazing with Maisie. I can tell how much you love kids." She waited for him to respond to what she had said so far. "I do love kids, Claire. And I would love to have more one day with you. But if you don't want to I am completely fine with that too. I promise." Claire then handed him his options again. "You don't deserve to be childless, Owen. If I can't give you a child, then you should be with someone who can." Owen was tired of this foolishness Claire kept spitting out. He sat up in bed which forced her to do the same. "Claire, do you want me to leave? Is this why you keep provoking me with this nonsense about finding someone else to be with? Because if you don't want to be with me just be honest with me." He was getting angry and she could sense the conversation was about to take a turn for the worse. "Claire, I love you more than anything in the world. The year we were apart hurt like Hell. You know I'm not a big drinker but I spent the first few months after we broke up at the bar at least two to three nights a week trying to drink you away. This woman came in a couple of times and tried to get me to take her home just about every night that she came in there. I never took her or anyone home, drunk as I was even! I felt like I would have been cheating on you and we weren't even together anymore at the time. Why do you think I started building that cabin? I never stopped loving you either, Claire. Part of why we broke up was because you didn't want to be nomadic and travel around on a whim. You needed stability and you still do, I get it. That's just who you are. So I built that for you, for us. So you and I would have a place to stay...STAY, like stay put. I didn't want you to see the cabin like you did. I wanted to finish it and come back for you. But you beat me to it. I wanted to prove to you that I still loved you. And I still do now. I don't want to be with anyone else or have kids with anyone else, do you hear me?" Claire still had trouble wrapping her head around the fact that this man built a cabin for her to move into with him. "Owen, you didn't need to build me a cabin to show your love for me." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "I know. But I figured if I needed someone to help me decorate the place after I finished it, you would be the best set of eyes to help with colors and furniture and stuff." He chuckled a little and he could see a slight upwards curve in the corner of her mouth that indicated she thought his stale joke was somewhat funny. Then he got serious again. "Claire, as far as having more children goes, if it is meant for us to be parents to more children one day, then fine. If it's not meant to be, that's fine too. But I need you to stop this nonsense about me leaving you because you can't conceive a child of your own. First of all, you already gave me a child. Conceiving and birthing a child naturally does not automatically make you a parent. Being a parent is so much more than that. And everything you are doing so far for Maisie is proof of what an incredible parent you are. Again, you've already given me a child. I know that's not the same way you see it because we didn't conceive her ourselves and you didn't give birth to her. But I know you don't love her any less and neither do I. I just want you to know that if you feel any less like a woman because of what some doctor told you then you shouldn't because you are just as beautiful and feminine and strong and powerful and amazing as you were before this news hit you yesterday. You are just as much a woman as you were before finding this out. Okay?" She laid there quietly sobbing on his chest. He wanted an answer out of her. "Okay???" "Okay!" She finally answered him through her tears. "Okay," he said softly and leaned down and kissed her on her forehead again. He began to brush her bangs out of her eyes a little bit as they talked about children and their future. "So do you want more kids one day or not, Babe?" Claire knew the answer to his question, but she didn't quite know how to explain herself. "I never thought I would, but sometimes I get this overwhelming feeling of wanting more. But I'm afraid I'll have to sacrifice my work for it and I don't want to do that. So I don't know what I want right now." He knew Claire would never give up her work for anything, not even a baby. He was okay with that because he knew it was possible to have both and he was willing to do whatever it took to help her find that balance should she ever decide to have a child with him. "The good news is you don't have to make that decision right now. And you don't have to give up your career, Claire. You can have both." Claire didn't need his permission, but she was thankful he felt the way he did about it. Claire then asked him why they were putting the cart before the horse. "Owen, we just got back together a few months ago. We are taking care of a child together and trying to work ourselves out so we don't make the same mistakes we did last time. We haven't even discussed marriage or anything yet, which is fine, but here we are talking about more children. Aren't we doing this all backwards?" Owen disagreed. "Claire, I think it's important for couples to discuss things like children before getting married. That's a big life decision. But like I said, if you want to try for more one day, we can. If you don't, we have one beautiful, amazing child down the hall that I will be perfectly happy raising with you. Claire, this doesn't change anything for me. You're it for me. You are my happy place. I don't have the ability to love you any less because you possibly can't carry our child inside of you." Claire lied on her back looking up at him. She had stopped crying but her eyes were still red and teary from sobbing. She looked at Owen and thought about how she hurt him before. They had hurt each other. But in that moment, Claire felt like she should have given him another chance before leaving him the last time. Maybe, maybe not, she thought. That was in the past. It didn't matter to her anymore. Presently, this man was lying in bed professing his love for her after finding out she could not give him everything he might want in a life with her. Claire needed reasons for his attachment. She wasn't complaining, but the organized person in her couldn't understand why he was so forgiving and in love. "Owen, why do you love me so much? I hurt you and then I came back to get you to ask you to go to a massive volcanic island with me to save a bunch of giant reptiles. What is the appeal?" Owen laughed. Claire was not very egotistical but she did possess a little bit of naitivity sometimes. "Claire, I believe in true love and mutual respect. I don't believe in a perfect relationship. You and I are not perfect and neither is our relationship. It never will be. You show me a perfect one and I'll show you a lie. But we respect each other, unlike we did in the beginning. And we love each other. As long as we have those two things we'll be alright." Claire smiled at him a little as he continued. "And you wanna know why I love you so much? Because you make me a better man. You teach me love and patience and integrity and you've taught me how to truly respect a woman. I mean, my dad always taught me to treat a woman like gold but you're the first and only woman who has ever been deserving enough for me to practice on." He winked at her and she looked into his eyes and felt every word he said. "You're also very independent and strong and powerful and could kick my ass any day of the week and I think that's incredibly hot!" Claire rolled her eyes at him, something she had a lot of experience with. "I know I didn't respect you a lot in the beginning, but when I got to know you better I saw through that tough, corporate facade and saw a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it and doesn't take no for an answer. That's incredibly sexy. I like a woman who can match me. I know you don't want to be 'taken care of,' that you can take care of yourself. But I want to be there to take care of you in any way possible for the rest of my life. I know I've said it already but you're my happy place, Claire. There are a million more reasons why I love you, but those are just a few of the top ones." Claire reached up with her hands to cup his face and bring him back down to her. She started to tear up as he kissed her. He whispered in her ear, "Oh and you're also the most gorgeous woman on the face of this Earth. How did I get so lucky?" She turned his face back to hers and kissed him so passionately he could feel his pulse beating in his temples. His face got flushed and hot and he proceeded to continue kissing her, moving from her lips to her neck and then her shoulders. "I love you so much," she whispered. Suddenly her emotions took over again and she started crying uncontrollably. Between being told she couldn't have children and this man pouring his heart out to her without expecting anything in return, Claire lost it. Owen immediately halted the foreplay they were engaged in and wrapped his arms around her. He sat her up and embraced her and let her cry in his strong arms. "It's gonna be okay, Claire. I love you. That will never change. You just cry as long as you need to. I'm not letting you go, I'm right here." Claire sat up in his embrace and let everything she was feeling pour out of her eyes. She didn't hold on to him in return, instead she buried her face in her hands and shook almost violently while he tried to calm her down and relax her. He felt like she might have a seizure if he let go of her. At the same time, however, he was holding her so tight at one point he thought he might crush her. She finally calmed down a little bit and he rocked her back and forth and kissed the top of her head like a parent rocking a child after a bad dream. He had done this so many times before after countless nights of nightmares, especially shortly after both of the incidents. She felt so safe in his arms. "Owen, is it really going to be okay?" She was still shaking. He knew the woman he was holding onto and she was the strongest, most determined person he knew. If she wanted something bad enough she would find a way to get it. That's how she became the Senior Assets Manager at Jurassic World. That's how the Dinosaur Protection Group came to fruition. That's how he ended up back on that dreaded island again being chased by dinosaurs. What Claire wants Claire gets. If anyone can make something out of nothing, it's Claire Dearing. "It's going to be okay. I promise." She pulled herself out of his embrace and wrapped her arms around him. He loosened his grip on her and moved his hands down her back to her waist. Claire looked at Owen and noticed his eyes were teary as well. "Owen, thank you for all you are to me." She kissed him again, this time a little longer than before. In that moment she wanted him in a way unlike anything she could describe. She leaned her forehead against his and spoke softly as she requested something from him. "Owen?" He breathed heavily and closed his eyes. "Yes?" he whispered, thinking she wanted to talk some more. "Will you make love to me?" He opened his eyes to look at her. Her auburn hair was glistening in the light created by the moon outside their bedroom window. Her green eyes were so bright he would swear they illuminated the freckles on her nose to the point he could count them in the dark if he wanted to. She really was the most beautiful thing in the world to him. Without saying a word he began kissing her again, moving his way up and down her body. After a few more minutes he reached in the drawer of the night stand on his side of the bed for some protection. "No, don't. You don't have to do that anymore." Claire reached for his arm to stop him but he had a logical explanation for his actions. "Claire, if you're not ready to have another child right now then we have to be careful." At first, she thought he hadn't listened to anything she said about not being able to conceive a child. Then she realized the meaning behind what he was doing. He was trying to tell her that he didn't believe what the doctors said. He was trying to tell her that he believed she could still have a baby of her own. He was telling her that there was still hope. He had complete faith in her. The doctor had given her no hope but Owen gave her all the hope she needed. In that moment he became more than just her boyfriend. He also became her partner, her best friend, her soulmate. No matter what happens in the future, she told herself, they would always be connected one way or the other. She let go of his arm and he slid the protection on and made love to her as slowly and gently as he could. They both wanted it to last forever, or at least all night. A few hours later, they woke up in each other's arms to the sunrise outside their bedroom window, ready to take on whatever curve ball came flying their way next.


	16. CHAPTER 16

A few months went by and Claire was busy with her work at the DPG and Owen was putting the finishing touches on the cabin. Maisie was doing well in school and enjoying every minute of her science class. She was turning into a miniature version of Claire more and more each day. Claire woke up one morning sick to her stomach. She thought back to what she ate the day before and couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary that made her sick. A few hours went by and she felt a little better. The next morning it started all over again. Owen had some coffee brewing in the kitchen when she walked in dressed for work. Usually coffee was Claire's go to in the mornings but this time it made her run right back to the bathroom. Owen followed her and found her with her head in the toilet. She looked up at him and they both had the same epiphany at the same time. "There's no way, Owen. I can't be." Claire was still very doubtful considering the doctor told her it would be almost impossible to get pregnant without help or an alternate method, plus they had been using protection the entire time. "Claire...". Owen wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say. Claire made him take Maisie to school and told him to stop by the drugstore and buy a pregnancy test on his way back. She called in sick and told Zia to hold down the fort for the day. When Owen returned he had three different tests in the CVS bag. Claire, not knowing whether to laugh at him or cry skipped both and went into the bathroom and shut the door. She had changed out of her work clothes and put on a pair of leggings and a tank top to roam around the house in. She took all three tests. They all came back the same. She sat on the floor against the wall of the shower door and called Owen into the bathroom. He walked in and found her with her arms resting over her knees looking like she'd just seen a ghost. The three tests were lying on the floor next to her feet. All three showed the same results. One showed a plus sign, one showed two lines and one said "pregnant" on it. They were all positive. He crouched down next to her and picked up the sticks, his jaw dropped as far as it would open. He looked at her, still not knowing what to say. This was something she truly believed would never happen and although Owen believed it would, he was still shocked at the results the three sticks in his hands revealed. If she was pregnant it was by sheer luck and miracle. Claire started to cry. He didn't know if she was happy or upset. All he could do was express his amazement at what they were witnessing whether they were ready for a baby yet or not. Claire had proved the doctor wrong. "Claire, you're pregnant. You're carrying a child. You did what they said couldn't be done!" She leaned in to hug him and they held each other on the bathroom floor crying together for a few minutes. "Owen, we're going to have a baby! Is this really happening?" He could tell she was excited but terrified at the same time. "Claire, call your doctor, see if you can get in today." Claire knew that would be more impossible than the fact that she might be pregnant but she called anyway. After speaking to the nurse and explaining what was going on the nurse said she would talk to the doctor and call Claire back. Five minutes later her phone rang. "Ms. Dearing, Dr. Lloyd wants to know if you can be here by 10:00?" The doctor was clearly in just as much shock at the news as Claire and Owen were. They couldn't get to the doctor's office fast enough. Owen stayed in the room with Claire while the doctor performed an official pregnancy test and sonogram. The three sticks at home were confirmed to be correct. Claire was about six weeks along. So far from what the doctor could tell, everything looked well. The doctor was amazed herself at what she was discovering. She explained how there shouldn't have been anywhere for the fertilized egg to pass through, yet it somehow did. After talking with Claire and Owen about what caused this amazing miracle they concluded together that the protection must have broken one night and that miraculously, something got through. Claire laid on the table and held Owen's hand and cried. He kissed her and they said their "I love you's" to each other and thanked the doctor for the official exam on such short notice. She congratulated the new soon-to-be parents and gave them some warning signs and problems to look out for, possible miscarriage being one issue. "I don't want to just throw negative things at you, but this could turn into a high risk pregnancy considering your situation and I just want you to be prepared for anything." The doctor was sincere but straightforward with the facts she was giving them. Owen was elated, more for Claire at the fact that she defeated the odds than the fact that he was about to become a dad. Claire was excited but nervous at the same time. As with most things in her life over the past few years, this was unexpected and bad timing. She was busier than ever with the DPG. She worried this would put a damper on her work. Claire's identity was very important to her. As excited as she was about having a family, she didn't want to be JUST a mom for the rest of her life. She wanted more. She wanted to maintain her career. Owen assured her that she could.


	17. CHAPTER 17

They rode home together holding hands in the car. Claire expressed her concerns to Owen, but he reassured her that everything would work itself out. "Claire you have to promise me you'll take care of yourself though. You have to put yourself first for once now." Claire wasn't going to be treated like a child for the next 7-8 months. "Owen, you're not going to do that. You're not going to tell me what to do with my body for the duration of this pregnancy. The baby will do enough of that, trust me." Owen didn't want to argue with her. He wanted to celebrate so he let it go for the time being. He tried to make a joke but it didn't go over like he'd hoped. "That's fine. I'll just put you in a huge gyrosphere sized bubble for the next several months and line it with bubble wrap on the outside." He winked at her, but she shot him a death look and he dropped it all together. When they got home Owen held the door open for Claire. She walked in and looked around her apartment. It was a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment. She was already planning out in her head how this was going to work with a new baby. Claire and Owen shared the master bedroom and Maisie had gotten custody of the spare bedroom. Owen could sense that her mind was going a million miles an hour. He gently grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him. "Claire, can you believe this? You're going to be a mom! Remember what the same doctor told you a couple of months ago? This is a miracle!" Claire knew what a miracle it was and she was not about to take it for granted. "Owen, I can't believe it either. I still don't know how I feel." She stood on her tip toes to put her arms around his neck and kiss him. He made the kiss last as long as he could. "Are you happy, Claire?" A few months ago she was upset that she couldn't have a child of her own, and now she had one and he feared she wasn't happy. "I am. I just don't know if this is the right time." He had to pull the reassurance speech out again. "Claire, it's a baby. It's never the perfect time to have a baby. But we're going to make it work. It's going to be okay. I promise." She smiled up at him and then looked down at her stomach. "You're not going to want to kiss me like that anymore when I get fat!" Owen laughed out loud. "Woman, you are you going to be so hot with a baby bump, I won't be able to keep my hands off of you!" Claire rolled her eyes at him. He wanted to take her out for lunch to celebrate but she was still feeling queasy so they stayed home and celebrated in a different way in bed for the rest of the afternoon. After they "celebrated" they laid in bed for a little while and talked about the baby and what laid ahead for them. "Claire, I guess we should get married, huh? But that's not an official proposal just so you know. I want to do something romantic and unexpected when I propose to you." Claire already knew she was going to hear about having a baby out of wedlock from her mother. Her mother was old fashioned about those kinds of things and she knew she would be getting an earful whether they had a shotgun wedding or not. Claire made a decision. "Owen if we get married, I don't want to do it before the baby is born. I don't want to feel like we're doing this just because you knocked me up, and I certainly don't want that to be the thing people talk about behind our backs for the rest of our lives, not that I care what other people think. If we get married one day, I want it to be after the baby is born...and after my baby weight is gone. And I want us to keep working on our relationship in the meantime. I want us to be totally ready if we decide to get married one day, not just jump into it because there is a child involved." Owen couldn't believe how narcissistic she was being about her body, but he understood why a woman would be self-conscious. He used to be a chubby kid growing up and was teased a lot in school. He didn't buff up until he joined the Navy so he tried to tell himself he understood where she was coming from. They both knew they still had a lot of things to work out between each other and that their relationship needed work and better communication so they agreed to start there and keep doing what they were doing. Maisie had actually become a huge help to them. They still found themselves occasionally fighting for control but having a child to look after forced them to work together for the betterment of the child rather than butting heads with each other so much. Neither of them ever guessed a child coming into their lives so suddenly would be a turning point in their relationship but she was. They recognized it and they were grateful for her and for each other. They both also knew this new baby would bring them even closer together as well. They were both nervous but willing to do whatever it took to make everything work.


	18. CHAPTER 18

Owen went to pick Maisie up from school around 3:30 and Claire decided they should tell her the news over dinner. While Owen was gone to get Maisie, Claire called her sister to give her the news. Karen had been a big support system for Claire when she told her about not being able to conceive a child of her own. Karen hadn't gone through the same thing personally, but she could understand from a female's standpoint and often called Claire to check on her. When Karen picked up the phone she had no idea that her little sister was about to tell her she was going to be an aunt. She was in complete shock and disbelief and asked Claire a million questions, some very personal about how it happened. "Karen, you have two kids, you know HOW it happened." "Well, were you taking fertility drugs, Claire?" Not hardly. "God no, Karen! We weren't even trying. We were even using protection. It must have...broken." Karen laughed. "Well I guess you're continuing the tradition of what Claire wants, Claire gets." Claire rolled her eyes through the phone. "Yeah, except this time I didn't have to work hard or fight for it like I thought I would. You act like everything I've ever had I got easy." Karen apologized to her sister and told her she didn't mean it that way. Claire knew that in her heart. She didn't mind answering her sister's questions, however. She knew she would have plenty of questions for her in return in the coming months and years even. She knew Karen would be there to guide her and give her parenting advice whenever she needed it. Claire wasn't alone. She had Owen and Maisie and her sister and she was grateful. She explained the risks to Karen, including the possibility of the baby not making it to full term. Karen understood and told Claire to call her at least once a week to update her on everything, and to call her immediately if there was some kind of emergency. She vowed to plan a trip soon to visit Claire and possibly bring Zach and Gray with her. Claire hung up with her sister and about five minutes later, Maisie ran through the door with Owen and ran up to Claire to hug her. "Claire, are you feeling any better since this morning?" She had seen Claire run to the bathroom after Owen offered her a cup of coffee but she didn't have a clue as to what it meant yet. Claire joked with Maisie that she would feel much better in nine months. Maisie didn't understand. "You're going to be sick for nine whole months?" "Well actually a little less than nine months by now, but yes." Maisie continued to look at Claire like she didn't understand. "We'll explain it to you over dinner. I'm fine though, Mais." Maisie asked if they could have macaroni and cheese with chicken nuggets for dinner. Owen happily obliged while Claire looked for something a little more nutritious to eat in the refrigerator. While the nuggets were baking in the oven and Maisie was working on her homework at the dining table, Claire pulled Owen aside for a minute. "Owen, what if we tell Maisie what's going on and it upsets her?" Owen looked confused. "Why would it upset her?" "What if she feels less like our child now that we're going to have a biological child that shares our DNA?" Owen pulled Claire in for a hug. "Babe, I think she's going to be excited about having a sibling. She's a smart kid. She knows we would never treat her any different or any less because she doesn't share our DNA. And if she does think that, we will reassure her right away of how we feel about her." Claire felt a little better hearing Owen's kind words.


	19. CHAPTER 19

They sat down to dinner and Claire took the reins. "So Maisie, Owen and I have something we'd like to tell you." Maisie crunched on a chicken nugget and looked at Claire waiting for her to keep going. "I guess there is no better way to break this news than to come right out and say it." Owen quickly took over before Claire had a chance to spit it out. He gestured to Claire with his hand to slow down a little. "Well, wait a minute, Babe. Hey Maisie, have you ever wanted a sibling?" Great, Claire thought. If she says no, she doesn't really have a choice either way now. Good job, Owen. She rolled her eyes as discreetly as she could at the table. Maisie looked up from her plate, her eyes getting bigger with every bite of mac and cheese. After she finished chewing she started to speak but stopped and looked at Owen and then back at Claire and then back at Owen again. "Am I getting a sibling? Are you guys adopting another child?" Claire couldn't tell from Maisie's tone if she was worried or excited. "No sweetie, we're not adopting another child. I'm pregnant." Maisie gave Claire a blank stare. Claire started to get worried about what Maisie's reaction would be. Owen chimed back in. "That means you're going to have a little brother or sister to play with and help look after." Maisie glanced at Owen long enough for him to make that statement and then stared back at Claire. Claire couldn't take it anymore. She had to know what Maisie was feeling. "Mais, are you okay? How does this make you feel?" Maisie got up and walked across the table to Claire's chair. She looked down at Claire's stomach and then back up to face her. "Claire, I thought you couldn't have a baby." Claire was still trying to come to terms with it herself. "I wasn't supposed to be able to have one but somehow it happened." Maisie smiled at her and then frowned a little. "I would love a sibling, but does that mean you'll love me less because I'm not really yours?" Claire broke down. She feared Maisie would ask this question. She grabbed Maisie and hugged her as tightly as she could. "Oh my God, sweetheart! Absolutely not! You remember what I told you, right? You will be loved just as much as this child. I promise you! You will not be loved any less and this baby will not be loved any more. Okay?" Maisie broke away from Claire's grip with tears streaming down her face. She looked at Claire who had the same wet, red eyes and cheeks. "I know we haven't known each other that long but you guys are the first real family I've ever felt like I had. I loved my grandfather with all my heart but he was the only thing I really had and he was sick most of my life and couldn't do a lot with me." Owen practically crawled over to where Claire and Maisie were at the table and scooped Maisie up in his arms. "Kiddo, you're the greatest thing that's ever happened to us, okay?" Maisie was overwhelmed with emotions. She still had tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Owen's neck and kissed him on the cheek. Claire stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms around both of them. Owen repositioned Maisie on his hip so he could hold her up with one arm and wrap his other arm around Claire. Maisie was ten, but was still tiny for her age, plus Owen wasn't lacking in the strength department so holding a ten year old on his hip wasn't a challenge for him.


	20. CHAPTER 20

Later that evening Claire put Maisie to bed. She was sitting on the edge of her child's bed when the little girl asked Claire if she could touch her stomach. "Can you feel the baby yet, Claire?" Claire was somewhat taken aback by Maisie's request. She looked down at her flat stomach. She ran her hand over her abdomen and then took Maisie's hand in hers and let her do the same. "I feel how sick the baby makes me in the mornings," she said with a smirk. "But I haven't felt the baby inside me yet. He or she is too little right now. When it gets bigger it will start to move around more and kick and then you'll be able to feel it too." Maisie looked at Claire in amazement. She was very smart for her age but she was still learning when it came to pregnancy and babies, considering she wasn't taught much about these things under her grandfather's care. "Do you want a boy or a girl?" This was another question Claire hadn't had a chance to think about yet. "I don't know yet. The most important thing is that the baby is healthy." "I agree," Maisie nodded with a smile. Claire and Maisie said goodnight to each other and Claire kissed Maisie on the head and turned out her light. It had been a long day. Her life had changed so much again within 24 hours. It was like every big event in her life took place over the course of a 24 hour period. She went to bed and wondered what the next 24 weeks were going to be like. Owen was in their bed watching tv when she entered the bedroom. She crawled in next to him and grabbed the remote and flipped the power off. "Hey, I was watching that!" Claire kissed him on the lips and said, "well now you can watch me get fat over the next seven months, won't that be fun!" Owen rolled his eyes and laughed at Claire. He knew she was not going to do well with that part. Claire needed control over everything and this was going to be something she couldn't control. Her body was going to change in ways he already thought were beautiful but she already felt mortified by it. He rolled on top of her and gave her some encouraging words. "Claire, you are going to look so beautiful with a baby bump. I can't wait to see it. And you're going to look beautiful afterwards too. If you are worried about it, you can come work out with me at the gym after you have the baby and after you rest your body for a while. I'll get you buffed up again." He was in the mood and she could tell. "Seriously Owen. You're not going to want to touch me or even look at me." He wasn't worried like she was. "Claire, you're bringing a life into this world. That in itself is a miracle and the most beautiful thing. There is nothing that would ever make me see you as unattractive." Claire smiled at him and then said, "So you'll get me buff again, huh?" He chuckled and said, "If that's what you want." He started moving his hands down her arms over her stomach and hips. They took each other's breath away. She felt him lighten his touch as his hand moved over her right thigh, careful not to put too much pressure on her wound. He was always so thoughtful and careful of her injury. She still felt safe with him. She wished she would have known him sooner so she could have loved him longer. They spent the rest of the evening embraced in each other's bodies and fell asleep intertwined together in the middle of the bed.


	21. CHAPTER 21

The next few months went on as normal as they could for the three of them. Claire had morning sickness every day for the next two months. She didn't start to feel better in the mornings until about halfway through her second trimester. She was starting to notice a change in her body as well. Her stomach was getting more round by the week. Her breasts and hips were getting bigger as well and she was not liking the change she was seeing. Owen, on the other hand, found it incredibly sexy and couldn't keep himself from running his hands up and down her body. It made her feel better knowing he was still attracted to her growing body. Claire kept busy with legislation at the DPG. The government stepped in to work on trying to get a sanctuary built in the US somewhere for some of the smaller herbivores that were roaming around until something permanent could be established somewhere else, probably on a remote island. The money Lockwood left Claire certainly helped her fund her efforts but it was not enough to completely fund an entire island to place the dinosaurs on so she still had some work ahead of her. She worked just as hard if not harder being pregnant than she did before. She knew her body would require a little bit of time off once she had the baby so she tried to get as much done as she could before that time came. She didn't know how she was going to sit still at home for about six weeks. Owen had finished the cabin and even converted the third room which was to be a spare for company into the baby's nursery. He built a crib and a rocking chair for Claire to rock and nurse the baby in. He left Claire to pick out the furniture and decor for the cabin, his only request that it be comfortable to sit on. Maisie enjoyed the process of helping Claire pick out paint colors and furniture. She chose gray and mint green for her bedroom walls. Claire had planned to paint the baby's room those same colors if it turned out to be a boy. She asked Maisie if it was okay if they had matching rooms. "Of course! Our rooms will be twinning!" Maisie was starting to learn the kids' current slang at school, something that made Claire both cringe and laugh at the same time. Once everything was finished with the cabin they spent every weekend there for a while. Claire surprisingly liked being away from the busy city for two days out of the week to relax and spend time with Owen and Maisie. Owen taught Maisie how to fish and Claire laid in the hammock and looked on and usually fell asleep in the afternoons. She hadn't taken a nap in the middle of the day since she was a small child and she figured the baby was what was making her tired the further along she got in her pregnancy. Her body was telling her what to do and she didn't like it. However, she didn't fight it. She knew this child, whether she was ready for it in her life or not, was a miracle. She had made it past the first trimester and everything looked to be okay to the doctor. Dr. Lloyd marveled at the baby that should have never been every time Claire went for a checkup. The morning sickness had passed as well and Claire couldn't have been more elated. She worked out with Owen occasionally and went for walks around the lake on the weekends. So far she was nothing but baby mostly, having put on almost no extra pounds besides her stomach, breasts and hips. She continued to eat healthy aside from her occasional splurge of chocolate ice cream once or twice a month. Overall, she felt good. She was scared to death of being a mother. Maisie came into her life already potty trained and knew how to feed and dress herself. And even then, Claire and Owen had their challenges with her sometimes. The one thing that gave Claire comfort was knowing she wasn't alone. It could have been worse. She watched the man she loved teach the little girl she had so quickly fallen in love with how to reel a fish in. She smiled. "If Maisie can make it after everything she's been through as a small child then I can do this," she thought to herself. Having Owen tell her almost daily how strong she was helped too. She never dreamed in a million years she would have a family and a career at the same time. But she was damned if she wasn't going to make it work.


	22. CHAPTER 22

The day came to find out the gender of the baby. Claire and Owen had been discussing baby names with some help from Maisie. Claire cringed at some of the names the two people in the household with her were throwing her way. Owen wanted something new and fresh, Maisie wanted something old and traditional and Claire wanted a mix of the two. Maisie liked the names Sophia for a girl and Johnathan for a boy. Claire couldn't help but wonder if Johnathan was in honor of Lockwood's longtime partner in crime, John Hammond, but she never asked Maisie. Owen settled on Tucker Thomas for a boy. He couldn't come up with a first name for a girl but he had his mind made up on what he wanted the child's middle name to be if it was a girl. He looked nervous when Claire asked him what the name was. "Um...uh, Claire." "What, Owen?" Claire asked. "No, I wasn't calling your name. I was saying your name. Claire. I want the middle name to be Claire if it's a girl." Claire rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Owen, we're not naming the baby after me. People don't do that. That would sound egotistical." Owen was dead set though. "Some people do it! Guys name their sons after them all the time! I love the name 'Claire.' I think it's such a beautiful name. Please? That name is very special to me. You can pick the first name, just let me have the middle name." Claire could tell this would be an ongoing argument for the next few months if this baby turned out to be a girl. She was confident Owen would lose though. Claire liked her name too, but she wasn't about to name her baby after herself. She wasn't too thrilled with any of the other choices Maisie and Owen had come up with so far. Claire had one name picked out, Aiden. "What if it's a girl?" Owen asked. "I know most people consider it a boy name but I think it would be a pretty name for a little girl too," Claire said. She couldn't remember how or when she fell in love with that name but she had loved it for a while. Owen thought about it for a minute and agreed. "That IS a cute name for a girl. So Aiden it is either way?" Claire made the final decision. "Aiden it is either way." Claire secretly wanted a girl and Owen did too, although he liked to act like he wanted a boy. Maisie wanted the baby to be a boy because she feared a girl might not like dinosaurs as much as she did and she feared they wouldn't have anything in common. Even though she would be 10-11 years older than the baby, she still wanted someone to play with and share interests with. "Oh, this baby is going to love dinosaurs no matter what the gender is," Owen reassured her in the car on the way to school. "You promise to tell me what it is as soon as I get home today?" Maisie couldn't keep her excitement contained. Owen promised her they would tell her the second she got home. Claire and Owen opted out of a fancy gender reveal party and all the hype. They wanted things to remain quiet and calm without a lot of attention focused on them. They would find out and simply tell their family and friends and leave it at that.


	23. CHAPTER 23

They pulled into Dr. Lloyd's office and Owen dropped Claire off at the door while he parked the car. She waited for him at the door and they walked in together. As they stepped onto the elevator to go up to the OBGYN suite on the third floor, Claire reached out to hold Owen's hand. This gesture always gave him goosebumps. They held hands a lot, especially since getting back together but he was usually the one to initiate the hand holding. Whenever she reached for his hand first it sent him into a spiral, one that he loved. They walked into the doctor's office and signed in and were called back a few minutes later. Claire laid on the table and the sonogram tech put the jelly on her stomach and proceeded with the sonogram to reveal the gender of her baby. "Ready to see if it's Tucker Thomas or Aiden Claire?" Owen was getting a kick out of rubbing the girl's middle name in Claire's face. The tech even looked at Claire with a confused look. "Don't worry, it's not happening. This baby is not going to be named Claire if it's a girl." She then looked back at Owen. "And in case you forgot, it's Aiden even if it is boy too." A few minutes later they had their answer. "Aiden Claire it is!" Owen almost squealed the name in excitement. It was a girl. Claire rolled her eyes at Owen and at the tech and said, "I've got a name battle ahead of me, I see." They were both excited about the baby's gender. Claire loved the idea of having a little girl to dress up, even if it was in cute girly dinosaur clothes. Owen was excited but nervous at the same time. "I better get my ammo ready for the boys. I wish we could track down Blue so she could be our 'pet raptor' and scare all the boys off that come within a 5 mile radius of both of our girls!" Claire laughed at his remarks. She knew Owen was going to be "that" kind of dad. Poor Maisie wouldn't be able to date until she was 40 and the same would apply for this baby too. The doctor came in and talked with them for a few minutes and they were on their way. On the way home Owen asked Claire if she wanted to stop by a store and look at some baby clothes now that they knew what they were having. Claire hadn't spent too much time in the baby department of the stores yet because of the lack of knowledge of the baby's gender and she didn't want to get overwhelmed by too many cute clothes for a gender she might not be having. She agreed and they stopped at a Target on the way home. An hour later they walked out with about five bags and $200 worth of baby girl clothes. Owen laughed as Claire carried all the bags herself through the parking lot. He offered to help her but she proudly carried them to the car and carefully placed them in the trunk. Although she tried to play it cool, she was excited beyond words. He marveled at how happy and calm she seemed. He had seen her go from not wanting kids at all and not being able to keep up with her own nephews for one day to calming Maisie down after a nightmare and helping her with homework and playing with her in the backyard and reading to her. She had done a complete 360 shift and it was something he would have never thought would happen in his days working on the island with her. He couldn't wait to see what an amazing mother she was going to be to a brand new baby.


	24. CHAPTER 24

After a busy morning at the doctor and shopping for the baby, Claire laid down to take a nap when they got home. Owen curled up next to her in bed and wrapped his arms around her. He rested one of his hands on top of hers, which were on her stomach. All of a sudden she felt something before drifting off to sleep. "Owen!" She moved his hand off of hers and rested it next to hers on her stomach. It was a kick. It was the first time she had felt the baby. Another kick came a few minutes later. "Did you feel that?" She was so excited and he couldn't stop smiling at how cute she was. A third kick came a few seconds later. "Claire, I felt it that time!" He was just as elated as she was. He watched her look down at their hands together on her stomach. She started to tear up. The life that was never supposed to happen inside of Claire just made herself known to her parents for the first time. She kicked a few more times before settling down and they fell asleep in each other's arms for the next two hours.


	25. CHAPTER 25

Claire set her alarm on her phone for 3:00 so they would not oversleep and forget to pick Maisie up from school. Owen left to pick her up and Claire stayed in bed and thought about how she was going to break the news to Maisie that she wasn't getting a little brother. As soon as Owen pulled up in front of Maisie's school she was interrogating him with questions. He promised Claire he wouldn't say anything to Maisie until they got home. They wanted to tell her together. Maisie was anything but patient and finally crossed her arms in the backseat with a discouraged look on her face. When they got back to the apartment Maisie jumped out of the car and ran to the elevator, leaving Owen in her dust. They got upstairs and found Claire in the living room sitting on the couch texting her sister who was completely overjoyed about having another niece. Maisie ran over and practically jumped in Claire's lap ready for the gender news. "Okay, what is it? What is it? C'mon, Claire! Owen wouldn't tell me in the car on the way home! I wanna know!" Claire laughed a little and told Maisie to calm down first. Owen joined the two of them on the couch. There was dinosaur gift bag placed on the coffee table with tissue paper sticking out of the top. Claire told Maisie to open the bag, that there was something in there for her. This was the extent of their gender reveal plans. There were two shirts lying face down in the bag. The one on top was Maisie's. She pulled it out of the bag and admired it. It read "BIG SISTER" across the front. Maisie fell in love with it. "Oh my God, thank you! I love it!!" Claire advised Maisie to pull out the other shirt that was still in the bag. "Pull the other shirt out and you'll find out what your sibling is." Maisie pulled the shirt out of the bag. It matched hers exactly except for the words, "LITTLE SISTER". Maisie held it up and smiled. Claire and Owen could tell she wasn't as thrilled as she probably would have been to have a little brother, but she was still excited. "Aww, I can't wait to dress her up and teach her everything I know about dinosaurs! I'm so excited!" Claire rubbed her stomach and smiled at Owen. Maisie ran to her room to try on her new shirt and Owen leaned in on the couch and kissed Claire on the forehead. She was still a little tired from their nap earlier and closed her eyes as he kissed her. He then leaned down and kissed her stomach, bringing his hand up to intertwine with hers that was resting on her baby bump. Maisie ran back in with her new t-shirt on and Claire and Owen marveled at how cute she looked in it. "You already look like an awesome big sister," Owen said. Maisie came to sit on Owen's lap on the couch. "Not too fast there, big sister! I've got to go put the burgers on for dinner. See if Claire will help you with your homework while I go fire up the grill outside on the balcony." Owen got up to start dinner for them and Claire told Maisie to bring her homework over to the couch and they would work on it together for a while. A few minutes into a tricky math problem, Maisie randomly said, "I think the name Aiden Claire is really pretty." Claire rolled her eyes. She was convinced Owen had put Maisie up to this. "What did Owen promise to buy you for saying that?" Maisie looked at Claire in disbelief. "I just think it's a pretty name. He didn't put me up to this, I swear!" Claire wasn't falling for it. "Uh huh, sure." They continued with her homework for a little while longer until dinner was done. They ate outside on the balcony for dinner. Claire had a nice view of the city in her apartment and they enjoyed the scenery with dinner. Claire, Owen and Maisie then retired back inside for popcorn and a movie since it was a Friday night and Maisie didn't have to be in bed early for school the next morning. Claire was never bored at work. She still loved her work with a passion, but she was beginning to see why people wanted to leave around 5:00 every evening instead of working late. This whole family thing was still new to her, but she was getting accustomed to it pretty quickly. She felt selfish sometimes wanting to have both, but a part of her wanted to keep working for a new reason. She wanted to show her girls how to be a strong, professional, independent woman. She didn't want them to have to rely on anyone to survive when they got older if they didn't want to or have to. She wanted to show them how to work hard, stay determined and never give up. There were people in the world still waiting for Claire to give up on the dinosaurs but Claire wasn't about to let that happen.


	26. CHAPTER 26

Towards the end of her second trimester, Claire found it harder and harder to keep up with everything at work. She was still eating well and exercising with Owen as much as she could but her blood pressure was rising consistently. During her seven month checkup her doctor recommended she work from home for the rest of her pregnancy or go on full bed rest. Claire was not happy with those recommendations at all but she did not want to put hers or the baby's safety in jeopardy so she did what the doctor said. She spent the next few weeks working diligently from home but eventually had to stop working all together. The doctor ordered her to full bed rest and told Claire if her blood pressure didn't go down after a week or two that they would probably have to take the baby early. Owen was a big help, bringing her food in bed and making sure she was comfortable. Claire felt huge although she wasn't that big. The baby wasn't very big. It became difficult for her to shower without help so Owen would get in with her and help her bathe. Claire felt horrible and mortified. She remembered the days when she and Owen would shower together but he wasn't bending over washing her feet for her. She didn't like needing help with simple every day tasks but she had no choice. Owen was her saint and she felt undeserving of him. He never complained or argued with her anymore. One day while he was helping her dry off after a shower she questioned the change in him. "Ugh, I can't even see my feet anymore! I'm ready to evict this child from my body!" Owen just chuckled a little and dried her feet off while she stood by the vanity. "I hate being grumpy all the time. And why don't you ever argue back with me anymore, Owen?" Owen loved to argue with Claire. It was part of their dynamic and they were very good at it together. He was more concerned about her health at the moment, however. "Claire, I don't want you to get all worked up about something and cause yourself to go into labor. Trust me, after this baby is born, I'll be right back at it. You say one cross thing and I promise I'll have a comeback for you." Claire looked down at him and smiled. She really didn't know anyone else who would put up with her shenanigans. He already meant the world to her after they fell back together after the second incident, but he became her everything throughout the course of her pregnancy.


	27. CHAPTER 27

One week into her eighth month her blood pressure continued to climb, despite only leaving her bed to shower, go to the bathroom or go to her checkups with the doctor. She went to what she didn't know was going to be her final checkup on a Thursday. "Claire, your blood pressure is going down here and there but not enough to get you through another month. When you come in for your appointment next week if it's still this high we're going to have to take the baby early." The baby's health was fine, but Claire's was not and it could potentially affect the baby's health too so the doctor advised Claire to be prepared. Claire called her sister and parents and Owen called his parents. Claire's mom freaked out and got on a plane with Claire's dad the next morning and flew in to San Francisco. Karen got in Saturday morning. Owen's parents were traveling the country in their RV. They were in Florida when he called and they parked their RV at a mobile home park and got on a plane right away as well. Claire didn't like all the fuss this was generating. She loved Owen's parents. They were a lot more laid back than her parents were, especially her mom, but she wanted as much peace and quiet as she could get during what might be the last few days of her pregnancy. As much as she didn't want to, she insisted they all stay at the apartment. They could make beds on the floor in Maisie's room, sleep on the couch and recliner. They all refused, not wanting to create more work for anyone and insisted on staying at a hotel around the corner. Karen brought the boys with her. They had not seen Claire in a while and Gray sat in bed with Claire most of the day on Saturday. He and Maisie watched Discovery Channel with Claire while the future grandparents made a fuss about everything in the living room. Gray and Maisie shared a love of dinosaurs, something his aunt now shared as well after the first incident. Claire laid in bed with her feet propped on top of four pillows listening to them sit at the foot of her bed talking about dinosaurs. They both knew more about them than Claire did, and she knew a lot about them. She thought back to the first incident and how she had neglected her nephews for most of their childhood. She prayed that she would be a better mother to her girls than she was as an aunt to her boys. Owen was making lunch for everyone in the kitchen and called out for Gray and Maisie to come get a sandwich. Maisie jumped up right away and ran into the kitchen. Gray stayed on the bed with Claire for a few minutes. He crawled from the foot of the bed to sit next to her. "Are you scared, Aunt Claire?" Claire wrapped her arm around her nephew. "I'm terrified. But I have Owen and I have Maisie and all of you." He looked up at his aunt and smiled. She kissed his forehead and ran her fingers through his wavy hair. "Gray, I'm sorry I wasn't more present in yours and Zach's lives when you were younger. I know I lived on an island but that's no excuse. I could have at least called more, come home a little more often, something. I want you to know how proud I am of you and your brother and that I love you with all my heart, okay?" She started to tear up a little bit. Her hormones had her crying just about every day at that point. Gray sat up on his knees on the bed and wrapped his arms around Claire's neck. "I love you too, Aunt Claire. And it's okay. I understand and I don't blame you for anything." Karen walked in on their hug and smiled in the doorway. "I hate to break up this sweet moment but Gray, your grilled cheese is getting cold in there." Gray kissed Claire on the cheek and left to eat lunch in the kitchen with everyone else. Karen crawled in bed next to Claire and wrapped her arms around her little sister. "Claire, you are going to be a great mom." Claire broke down at that point. She remembered back to a year ago when the doctor told her she would never be able to have children of her own and here she was about to drop one any minute. To say she was highly emotional was an understatement. "I never thought I'd see my little sister high pregnant lying in bed with her feet propped up about to give birth to a BABY!" Claire glared at her sister. "Well, people can change, Karen. And I guess I did, somewhat. The old Claire is still very much here. And anyway, what else would I be about to give birth to?" Karen laughed and teased Claire that maybe there was a dinosaur in her belly. Claire joked that she felt like she was about to give birth to a T-Rex. Karen left Claire to rest after a little while and everyone came in to her room a few hours later to say goodnight. They assured her and Owen they would be back the next morning.


	28. CHAPTER 28

Maisie came in to say goodnight to Claire around 9:30. She was allowed to stay up until 10:30 on the weekends but all the family excitement left her sleepy and she went to bed early. Owen washed up the dishes from lunch and then went to bed. Claire was already asleep. He stood over her from her side of the bed for a minute and watched her chest rise and fall. She had been sleeping restlessly for the past few weeks, not being able to get comfortable, but that night she seemed to be sleeping soundly by the breaths she was taking. He changed into his boxers and T-shirt and crawled in bed next to her. Around 3:30 in the morning Owen awoke to a terrifying sound. Claire was screaming in pain next to him in bed. "I can't move, Owen! The pain, oh my God!" She was using one hand to try to sit up in bed and the other hand was under her stomach. Owen was almost certain of what was probably happening. "Claire, do you think you're in labor?" She had sweat dripping from her forehead and her hair was soaked from sweat. He felt her pillow and the area of sheets under where she had been laying and they were soaked as well. Suddenly Claire felt something wet beneath her in the bed. "Owen, I think my water just broke!" He jumped out of bed and ran over to her side. He pulled the covers off of her and sure enough the sheets were soaked between her legs. "I'm calling 911!" He tried to remain calm for her but he was shaking uncontrollably. She was writhing in pain and crying and he could hardly look at her that way. Maisie heard Claire's screams and came running into their bedroom. "What's going on?" Suddenly her eyes focused on Claire and she gasped in shock at the sight in front of her. Claire was sitting up in bed holding her stomach and screaming in pain. Owen grabbed her attention right away. "Maisie, honey, go into the kitchen and get the number to Claire's doctor off the refrigerator. Bring it to me! Hurry!" Maisie ran out of the bedroom without asking any questions. He had 911 on the phone. "My girlfriend is in labor, we need help now!" The responder got their address and told Owen they were on their way. She told Owen to lay Claire back on the bed and not to move her. He then called her doctor and got an on call answering service. He told the woman on the other end of the line to get the doctor to the hospital immediately, that his "wife" was going into labor. Maisie looked confused, wondering if they got married one afternoon while she was at school and just forgot to tell her. Even with all the pain she was in, Claire noticed what Owen said and looked at Maisie with a confused expression on her face too. Owen was the only one who didn't notice that he called Claire his wife. A few minutes later Claire forgot what he said due to the intense pain she was in again. Her contractions were so painful that even when they subsided for a little while they still left her in agonizing pain. Maisie was standing next to Claire's side of the bed, holding her hand and Owen was pacing the floor at the foot of the bed. Finally the doorbell to the apartment rang and he ran to open the door for the EMTs to get in. They wheeled a stretcher in and helped Claire out of bed. One of them asked Owen some questions, including his relationship to Claire and if he was the father of the baby or not. He quickly answered everything and they got her on the elevator and down to the lobby of the apartment building. Thankfully it was the middle of the night so no one was roaming the halls or elevators. The last thing Claire wanted was to cause a scene in her apartment building. She had always been a quiet tenant, kept to herself and was always friendly to her neighbors and the office staff downstairs and she wanted to keep it that way. Only Claire would worry about something like that at a time like that. The EMTs would not allow Owen to ride in the ambulance with Claire because they needed to hook her up to IVs and get her vitals. He hopped in his truck with Maisie and followed the ambulance to the hospital.


	29. CHAPTER 29

The ride was short, something Owen and Maisie were both grateful for. The ambulance pulled up to the back of the emergency room entrance and Owen pulled up behind them. A security guard came up to him and told him to move his truck, as he was blocking the entrance to the emergency room. "Here!" He tossed his keys to the guard. "Either move it for me and I'll tip you later even though you're not valet, or tow it. I don't care. But I don't have time to move it right now." It occurred to him on the way to the hospital to call his and Claire's parents and Karen and they were on their way up there too. More than anything, he needed someone to watch Maisie so he could be in the delivery room with Claire. The EMTs wheeled her into a private room and made Owen sign some paperwork. A nurse and ER doctor came in immediately to assess Claire. Her blood pressure was 214/104. The nurse said Dr. Lloyd was on her way. They would have to perform an emergency c-section more than likely because of Claire's blood pressure. Claire's contractions were coming more frequently and Owen was getting impatient waiting for Dr. Lloyd. She finally showed up and they wheeled Claire upstairs to the delivery floor. Owen was given some scrubs to put over his clothes. He was told to wash his arms and hands in the delivery room which he did frantically. He was practically convulsing in front of Claire and one of the nurses noticed. She walked over to Owen at the washing sink and quietly told him he needed to calm down for Claire. "Sir, your girlfriend is in a lot of distress right now. You have to try to stay as calm as you can for her." He shook his head but the only thing that made him stop shaking was holding onto Claire's hand. He stayed by her side and told her to breathe. The baby was coming fast. Claire was going to have to push. There was no time for a c-section. The doctor could see the head and told Claire to push as hard as she could. She was soaked in sweat and her forehead felt like it was on fire under Owen's hand. The more she screamed the more angry he got because he wanted to take her pain away. "Can't you give her something?" The doctor shook her head. "Mr. Grady, it's too late for an epidural. This baby is on its way now. We've got to get her out right now!" He held her hand and along with the doctor, talked her through every push. Owen never wanted to see Claire in this kind of pain ever again. She was almost lifeless, drained like he'd never seen her before. Running from dinosaurs on an island twice, one of those times being in heels all day and she still wasn't this tired. Claire's body started to give in to the pain and she protested the last push. "Owen, I can't do this. I can't do it! I can't push anymore, I can't!" She was panting so hard she could barely get her words out. He had to reassure her more in that moment than he'd ever had to in his life. A flash of everything they'd been through flew across his mind. He squeezed her hand and told her she had no choice. "Look at me, look at me!" He had said those same words to her after pulling that giant tree log off her leg just a little over a year before. He knew how to get her to focus on him in the most difficult situations. He chocked it up to his military training, but in that moment he just needed her to look him in the eyes so he could give her the pep talk of her life. "Claire Dearing, you're the bravest, strongest woman I know. If you can do everything you've done so far in your life, you can do this. You have to! You are the most determined person I've ever met in my life and when you want something you make it happen so I know you can do this. It's just one more push, Babe! Come on, you can do this! You've got this, Claire! I love you, I'm right here with you!" He quickly kissed her on the lips. That, along with his words were what she needed to give it one last go.


	30. CHAPTER 30

Claire pushed as hard as she could and suddenly felt the release of pressure beneath her. She let her head fall back onto the hospital bed and closed her eyes for a moment. She felt Owen's hand squeezing hers tightly. Suddenly she heard a cry. It was her baby. She opened her eyes and sat up a little and saw the doctor handing her miracle baby to Owen. "Say hello to your beautiful baby girl," said Dr. Lloyd. Owen looked at Aiden in amazement and gently laid her across Claire's chest. She was wrapped in a pink cloth, still covered in some of the amniotic fluid. Claire latched on to her and kissed her head. She looked up at Owen. He was sobbing uncontrollably. Claire was crying too as she looked down at her baby. Aiden had reddish brown peach fuzz on her head and her green eyes matched both of her parents. She had a dimple in her chin, just like Claire. "Claire, look what you did!" He kissed her on the lips and then on the head. Claire felt a tear fall from his cheek and land on her temple. He then kissed Aiden and said, "She's so beautiful. She looks just like you! I love you so much, Claire. You did it. I knew you could do it. You're my superhero." Claire smiled at Aiden and said, "Hi Aiden Harper Dearing-Grady. Welcome to this crazy world." Owen grunted. He was still upset over the baby's middle name. He liked the middle name Claire picked out. Aiden Harper had a nice ring to it, but it was no Aiden Claire. He gave up. Claire was okay, Aiden was okay. Nothing else mattered in that moment.


	31. CHAPTER 31

They admired their newborn for another minute or two and then suddenly the machine monitoring Claire's blood pressure started beeping frantically. Her blood pressure had dropped dramatically down to 70/52. He looked down and she was trying to hold the baby against her chest but was slumping over and slurring her words. One of the nurses came over and took the baby and the doctor rushed over to assess Claire. She was becoming incoherent. Owen frantically started shaking her and calling her name but she wouldn't respond back to him. "Claire! Claire, look at me! Answer me! Claire!" The doctor pulled him away from Claire and took him aside quickly. "Mr. Grady, the baby is fine, but we're going to have to ask you to step outside. We need to stabilize your girlfriend." "What is going on? What is wrong with her?" Owen demanded an answer but the doctor didn't have one for him. "Sir, I'm not quite sure yet, that's why we need to move fast, but you can't be in here while we assess what's going on. Please step outside and we will let you know as soon as we know something! They will take your baby down to the nursery to get her cleaned up in the meantime. Now please step aside!" Owen refused to leave and a male nurse had to come in and force him out the door. The nurse tried to tell him everything would be okay, but Owen pushed him into the wall. They were about the same size but Owen was running on rage and adrenaline by that point and the nurse was no match for him. A couple of staff heard the noise down the hall and called for a security guard to come pry Owen off the nurse. A hospital security guard showed up and gave Owen an ultimatum. "Sir, you either calm down or I'm going to have to escort you outside. Now please take your hands off this gentleman." Owen let go and stomped down the hall until the guard, nurse and witnesses were gone. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Karen. "Karen, Claire is unconscious I think! The baby is here and she's fine. But a few minutes after Claire gave birth, she passed out. She lost all the color in her face and she couldn't hear me anymore. They took the baby to the nursery. I'm standing outside the delivery room and they're working on Claire! I don't know what's going on! Please tell everyone what's going on but try to stay calm and try to keep them calm. I don't want Maisie freaking out!" Karen could hear Owen's voice shaking. She was scared to death too. Claire was the strongest person Owen and Karen both knew, but they needed answers as to what was going on. Karen pulled her parents aside and then pulled Owen's parents aside. She told everyone what was going on. She instructed them to keep it as cool as they could in front of Maisie. She had been through so much already, and Owen didn't want to scare her. Maisie could tell something was up. "What's wrong? Is something wrong with the baby?" Karen knew she had to tell Maisie the truth but she didn't know how. "Maisie, sweetheart, the baby is fine. You have a new, healthy little sister! But something is wrong with Claire and we don't know what it is yet. The doctors are working on her right now, but I'm sure she's going to be fine."


	32. CHAPTER 32

Maisie ran out of the large waiting room they were now sitting in on the delivery floor. She ran down the hall to a set of double doors and pressed a button on the wall that allowed her to enter. Karen chased after her. "Maisie, you can't go back there! Come back, sweetie!" Maisie kept running. She got to the end of a long hallway and turned a corner. There she found Owen pacing back and forth outside Claire's delivery room. "Owen!" She ran so fast she nearly knocked him over when she reached him. Owen didn't want her back there seeing him like that or knowing that Claire could be in danger. "Mais, you're not supposed to be back here. How did you get back here?" Karen finally caught up to Maisie, and Owen gave her a death stare, upset that she let Maisie get far enough out of her sight to find him. Maisie made it clear she didn't want to leave Owen's side. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here with you!" Karen tried to pull her away from Owen but she screamed and pushed Karen off of her. Owen, not wanting to cause another scene in the hallway, told Maisie to calm down and that she could stay with him. Maisie might as well have come out of Claire's womb too. She was determined to get what she wanted when she wanted something so passionately. She was just like Claire. Owen knew how a fight with Maisie would go...the same way most of the fights he ever had with Claire went. He would lose. Karen stayed outside Claire's room with Owen and Maisie for a few minutes and then the door opened and Owen saw Claire being rolled out quickly with an oxygen mask on her face. "Where are you going? Where are you taking her?" One of the nurses walked over to Owen, Maisie and Karen and said, "Sir, your girlfriend needs a blood transfusion. We are taking her to get one now. She is having a postpartum hemorrhage which means she's losing too much blood after giving birth. That's why she passed out on you earlier in the room. We have to act quickly or..." Owen didn't like the fact that her words trailed off at the end. "Or what, dammit?" The nurse tried to remain calm. She saw Maisie standing next to him holding his arm. She didn't want to scare the child and asked Owen to step aside with her. "Or she could be in grave danger. She could go into a coma or, uh even worse." She didn't have to say the words. He knew what she meant. "You get her that damn blood transfusion and save her life, do you hear me?" The nurse nodded, not wanting to make any promises. "Where do I need to go?" Owen asked. The nurse advised him to go back to the delivery waiting room with the rest of the family. She told him either she or someone else would notify him as soon as they had an update. When he asked how long it would take, the nurse gave him an idea on time and said to spend it with his new baby. "You do not let her die, I mean it. Do you hear me? That woman is everything to me. She is a fighter. She is the strongest person I know. Please!" He said it as quietly as he could, not wanting Maisie to overhear him. The nurse placed her hand on his and said, "we're going to do everything we can, sir."


	33. CHAPTER 33

The nurse ran down the hall to catch up with Claire and the other nurses and doctor. Owen needed an outlet to get his frustrations out. He was angry. He was scared. He was upset. He didn't know what else to do so he punched the wall in the hallway as hard as he could. Maisie and Karen saw him and ran over to him. "Karen, take Maisie back to the waiting room. I'll be there in a minute." Maisie objected. "Owen, I want to stay with you!" He needed her to be brave for him like the night he and Claire found her in Lockwood's estate. "Maisie, sweetie, listen. I need you to go back to the waiting room with Karen. I will be there in just a few minutes. I promise. Will you please do this for me? As soon as I get back up there we will go see Aiden in the nursery, okay?" She sobbed and wrapped her arms around his waist and said, "Okay, but please don't be long." Maisie hadn't heard much of the conversation between the nurse and Owen because she had been crying the whole time in Karen's arms. Karen, however, had heard the conversation from a few feet away in the hallway and did everything she could to stay calm for both Owen and Maisie. "Karen, please take her back to the waiting room. I need to go do something and I'll be there in just a few minutes." Karen obliged but not before giving Owen a hug. She whispered in his ear, "Owen, my sister is strong. You know that. She's going to be okay. This happens to women pretty commonly. I didn't have it with my boys but I've read about it. They will get the bleeding under control and she will be okay." He buried his face in her shoulder and started crying. They stayed locked together for about two minutes until he realized he needed to compose himself so Maisie wouldn't see him crying. Karen took Maisie back to the waiting room and told both sets of new grandparents what was going on. Her mom became frantic and Karen pulled her out into the hallway and tried to calm her down. "Mom, you know Claire. If she can outrun dinosaurs and volcanos she can get through this. And we're in one of the best hospitals in San Francisco. We have to try to stay calm for Maisie. She doesn't know the full extent of what is going on, and Owen doesn't want to scare her. Let's try to stay collected for her sake right now." Karen and her mom walked back into the waiting room and Karen announced that the baby was here and healthy and that they would all get to see her soon.


	34. CHAPTER 34

Meanwhile Owen finally left the spot outside Claire's delivery room since she was no longer inside and walked for what seemed like miles to him until he found what he was looking for. He entered an open door with a plaque on the wall outside that read "CHAPEL" on it. It was one of the many prayer rooms set up throughout the hospital. He closed the door behind him and sat down in one of the chairs and buried his face in his hands. He was not an overly religious person but he went to church on and off as a kid with his parents and he believed in the power of prayer. He cried uncontrollably for the first five minutes and spent the next five minutes praying to get Claire through everything that was going on. When he was finished, he stood up, composed himself and walked out. He found a bathroom and went inside to wash water over his face to try to remove the bloodshot from his eyes. A couple of minutes later he found himself in the waiting room with his parents, Karen, her parents, Zach, Gray and Maisie. Every single one of them stood up and hugged him and told him that Claire would be alright. He felt their words and he believed them. He knew they were just as afraid as he was. But he also knew Claire. He believed in his heart, especially after saying a prayer that she would be okay. After the short lived family reunion he bent down to Maisie's level and asked her if she wanted to go meet her baby sister. She had been crying but smiled and agreed to go with him. He asked everyone else if they minded if he go with Maisie alone first. They all understood and sent him on his way. The transfusion would take a few hours, but Owen told Karen to stay by the phone in the waiting room and if a doctor or nurse called to call his cell phone immediately so he could get back up there.


	35. CHAPTER 35

He walked hand in hand with Maisie down to the nursery. The blinds were drawn but flipped open enough for them to see through the window. He noticed a nurse inside and tapped on the glass. She opened the door next to the windows and asked him which baby was his. He stated her name and then made an executive decision, knowing he would never hear the end of it from Claire when she recovered. "Aiden Harper Dearing-Grady, but I need to make a change to that before signing the birth certificate." Maisie looked up at him and gave a warning look. She knew what he was up to and she knew Claire would kill him when it was all over with. Part of her wanted to try and talk him out of it, but she secretly liked the name "Aiden Claire" better than "Aiden Harper" too. The nurse brought the birth certificate to him and asked what the change was. He notified her that the middle name needed to be changed to "Claire". The nurse obliged and expressed her support for the name change. "Ooh, that's so pretty. I love the name Harper, but 'Aiden Claire' just has such a pretty ring to it! 'Claire' is such a pretty name!" Owen smiled at the nurse and said, "Yeah, it's my favorite name. My girlfriend is going to be pissed at me for doing this, but I'm prepared to take what's coming to me which will probably be a flying stiletto to my head at some point!" The nurse laughed and asked, "Oh, she sounds feisty!" "You have no idea," Owen said with a smirk on his face. He looked down at Maisie and waited for her to agree with him. Maisie just looked at him like he was about to be thrown to a pack of raptors for dinner. The kid was smart. She knew not to get in the middle of a Claire and Owen argument. She knew more times than not Claire would win. The nurse asked if Owen's girlfriend didn't like the name "Claire" and he lowered his voice to give her the details. "No, she likes the name but her first name is Claire and she thinks it's egotistical if we name the baby after her. She had a postpartum hemorrhage right after giving birth earlier and is getting a blood transfusion right now. I want to name Aiden after her mother just in case..." He stopped himself. He didn't even want to say the words out loud that were floating around in his head, especially in front of Maisie. The nurse got the point he was trying to make and said she understood. A new certificate was placed in front of him with Aiden's new middle name on it, and he signed it without any hesitation of his decision. The nurse then made Owen and Maisie wash their hands. She walked over to a row of babies in clear, plastic bassinets and picked Aiden up and brought her to Owen. There was a rocking chair in the corner of the room. He was instructed to sit down and she handed Aiden to him. Aiden was wrapped in a pink blanket with a pink and white striped hat on her head. She was sleeping soundly in his arms. Maisie stood next to him and gazed at the baby. She had never seen anything so tiny and precious. She was amazed at this brand new soft human being in Owen's arms. "She is so cute!" Maisie shared her excitement and then made the same revelation to Owen that he made to Claire earlier in the delivery room. "Sorry Owen, but she looks more like Claire." Owen let out a "ha" and said he agreed with Maisie. "It's okay. I actually told Claire the same thing earlier. That just means she's beautiful...just like Claire." Maisie looked up at him and nodded. She asked if she could hold the baby and he promised her she would be able to hold her later after Claire held the baby first. He wanted Claire to be able to hold her child again before anyone else. He kept telling himself she was going to be alright even though his head and heart were both pounding and his stomach was in knots over what was going on. He held Aiden for a few more minutes until the nurse came back by and asked if they would like to watch her get her footprints taken. Maisie excitedly said yes and Owen stood with his baby in his arms and handed her back to the nurse. She laid Aiden down in another clear bassinet and removed the blanket from her body. She was naked underneath except for a diaper. She had a small hospital bracelet attached to her left ankle with hers and Claire's identification on it. The nurse got the ink out and stamped both of Aiden's feet, causing her to wake up and cry. She had some good lungs for a newborn, just one more thing to confirm she was definitely Claire's child. He knew he would be arguing with Aiden in about 13 years over boys or clothes or something and getting yelled at with a bedroom door slammed in his face. He hoped Maisie being more of a tomboy would give him a break. He hoped Aiden would turn out a dinosaur loving tomboy too so he wouldn't have to take blood pressure medicine of his own for the rest of his life. He feared at least one of them would turn out a girly girl like their mother though and give him a run for his money. "Probably both of them eventually, knowing my luck," he thought to himself. Even though Maisie wasn't biologically his or Claire's, she was just like Claire, except for the clothes and shoes part. The nurse wiped Aiden's feet off with a warm wash cloth and some lavender scented Johnson and Johnson's baby soap. She wrapped her back up in the blanket and gave her a bottle to calm her back down.


	36. CHAPTER 36

Owen called Karen and asked if she had heard anything from the doctor. When she said she hadn't, he advised the family to come down to the nursery two at a time so someone could stay close to the phone. Karen agreed to stay by the phone and go down last to see the baby. Owen's parents let Claire and Karen's parents go down first, considering what was going on with their daughter. When they came back, Owen's parents went down. Lastly, Zach and Gray went down to the nursery together. Everyone got to see Aiden through the glass wrapped in her pink blanket and hat. She had gone back to sleep by the time the first set of grandparents got down there. Owen stood outside the nursery with Maisie and watched them watch their granddaughter and cousin in amazement. He had hoped his own parents would at least humor him and say Aiden looked a little bit like him but the truth was even though she was a newborn, she already looked just like the love of his life. Finally, Karen left her dad in charge of phone duty in the waiting room and went down to the nursery to see her new niece. "Owen, she's beautiful. Usually when babies are first born they look like little wrinkled aliens for a few weeks but she already has a cute baby face. She looks like Claire already!" Maisie looked up at Owen and chuckled a little bit. Every single member of the family told him the same thing when they came down to the nursery and saw her through the glass. He smiled and agreed with each of them as they told him he had a mini Claire in his life. He only felt lucky to have such a beautiful blessing. At the same time, he didn't know if he could handle another mini Claire running around. He smiled at the thought of having three Claires in his life and put his hand on Maisie's shoulder. He turned to Karen and said, "I'm one lucky guy. I have this amazing little Claire right here and a miniature Claire in there." Karen nodded and expressed her faith that everything was going to turn out alright. "And you have an amazing mother for your two little Claires. She's going to blow your mind." Owen's eyes watered and he said, "she already has with this one," as he squeezed Maisie's shoulder a little tighter. The nursery had been notified of Claire's condition and was ordered to hold the baby in there until she was hopefully stabilized and moved to a regular room.


	37. CHAPTER 37

Owen and Maisie walked with Karen back to the waiting room. Part of him wanted to get back as soon as possible and be there when the phone rang but the other part of him wanted to stay down in the nursery with his newborn. He couldn't take his eyes off her when he was down there, something he was all too familiar with any time Claire was in his presence. He loved Claire so much. He knew he would find a way to raise two children on his own if he had to, but that was not an option for him. He had to get his mind on something else before the thoughts of having to live without her bottled up too deep inside him. He entered the waiting room to find the whole family still waiting for the phone to ring. About another long hour passed and they still hadn't heard anything. There were a few false alarms when it rang for other families who were also sitting in the waiting room. Finally the phone rang and it was for the Dearing-Grady family. Karen picked up and immediately handed the phone to Owen. The conversation was quick. "Uh huh, okay. I understand. Thank you." He hung up and walked back over to where Karen and the rest of the family were sitting. "The doctor is going to come down and talk to us in just a minute." A few minutes later the doctor entered the waiting room and pulled up a chair to face the whole family. She introduced herself to everyone and shook each one of their hands. Owen was grateful for her kindness but just wanted her to get down to business. "So Claire is stable at the moment." A giant weight lifted off Owen's shoulders. She was alive. She might not be out of the woods yet, but she was alive. That's all he needed to hear in that moment. The doctor continued on with the details of what happened and what their plan of action was to get her back to good health again. "Claire suffered a postpartum hemorrhage. This happens to women sometimes after giving birth. Sometimes it's right away, sometimes it's not for several weeks after having a baby. This is when the mother loses too much blood, causing a hemorrhage. In a lot of cases like Claire's, it can be caused by toxemia which is when the mother's blood pressure gets too high. In Claire's case, her blood pressure was extremely high and then after she gave birth she hemorrhaged and as a result, it caused her blood pressure to plummet very quickly which is also not good, and losing too much blood as well can result in a number of different problems like coma, shock or worse. Of course, we never want to see this happen but it's good that it happened to Claire when it did because she was already in a hospital and we were able to get everything under control more quickly than had she been at home or somewhere else and this happened. She is still getting a blood transfusion right now and we are giving her a drug intravenously called Misoprostol which helps stop the bleeding as well. Maisie spoke up and asked what the word intravenously meant. The adults around her knew what it meant but she didn't know they knew and she was afraid if she waited to ask one of them after the doctor left, she might not get an answer. The doctor could see the look of fear on the small child's face. "It means we put an IV in your mom's arm and we are giving her medicine through an IV. It works faster that way so she can get better faster." Maisie was satisfied with that answer and nodded. She leaned into Owen's side and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her, never taking his eyes and ears off the doctor. "So what happens now?" He needed a plan. He suddenly felt like Claire. The doctor responded. "Right now, she is stable but we won't know if she suffered any brain damage from the loss of too much blood until the transfusion is over and we can send her down for an MRI. When she passed out in front of you Mr. Grady, it took us a few minutes to bring her back to full consciousness again and we don't know if she lost any oxygen to her brain during that time. The transfusion takes a few hours. It's about two-thirds complete. Once we do the MRI if everything looks good, we'll ask Claire a number of questions to make sure her brain function is normal and if the bleeding is still under control within a few days she will be able to go home." Owen's heart sank again. He hadn't thought of something like brain damage. He asked to go see her. "When can I see her?" The doctor told him she would take him down there personally so she could check on Claire's progress while she was back down there. "Unfortunately at this time, I can only allow one person back there and it's only for a few minutes until she is awake and more stable." Karen's mom wanted to see her daughter but she held back, knowing Owen needed her more at the moment. She knew Claire needed him more too. The doctor stood up and shook everyone's hand again and thanked them. "Claire has a lot of support and love, clearly. That is very helpful in situations like this. She's very lucky to have all of you." Gray, who had been quiet most of the day, spoke up and said, "No we're lucky to have her." Karen wrapped her arms around her son. He was always so sweet and forgiving. He never made Claire feel bad for not being in his life more in the past. Zach never did vocally but Karen could always tell he held a little bit of resentment towards his aunt. Still, Zach nudged Gray's shoulder in that moment and shook his head to agree with his brother. The doctor waited for Owen at the door. He stood up and told everyone he would let them know how Claire was doing as soon as he came back. He knelt down next to Maisie. "You have been so patient and brave today. I am so proud of you. I know you want to go with me but they will only let one person go back there and you're not tall enough to see over the rails on the side of the bed." He joked and winked at her, trying to lighten the mood for her a little bit, but she only pouted and crossed her arms in the chair. "Karen, please watch her for me." He left the waiting room with the doctor as Maisie watched in fear that he would come back with bad news.


	38. CHAPTER 38

They walked together down the hallway for what seemed like an eternity. The doctor was quiet for most of their trek. When they got to the room where Claire was getting the transfusion the doctor stopped and put her hand on Owen's arm and said, "You have a fighter on your hands, Mr. Grady. I think you know that already. Just be prepared when you go in. She is pretty pale right now due to the amount of blood she lost. She'll get some color back once the transfusion is complete and the blood cells have had time to fully replenish themselves. She's also hooked up to a heart monitor just as a precaution. There will be a few IVs and tubes here and there. One IV is the medicine to help stop the bleeding and one is for pain. I don't want you to be alarmed." Owen heard everything the doctor said but he only focused on the first part. "Yeah, I have a fighter on my hands alright. She's so much stronger than I am, thank God." He knew he would hate how much of a fighter she was when she recovered and found out that her child's middle name had been changed without her consent. He entered the room and saw the most beautiful thing in the world lying in the bed. She was asleep. She looked almost lifeless and it scared him. The doctor walked in behind Owen and moved over to the opposite side of the bed from him. She took Claire's blood pressure. A cuff was already in place on her arm. The doctor pressed a button on one of the machines Claire was hooked up to and within seconds it revealed her blood pressure on the screen. "92/63. That's still low but it's better than it was before. It's coming up slowly." Owen asked what the goal was for Claire's blood pressure. "Well, we don't want it where it was towards the end of her pregnancy. And we don't want it too low like it got earlier when she started losing all the blood. 120/70 is normal so as long as we can get it at least close to that again and maintain it for the most part, that is the goal. The doctor walked over to the nurse that was administering the blood transfusion and monitoring Claire. They talked for a few minutes quietly so that Owen could have some privacy with Claire. He looked down at her. She looked so peaceful but he wanted her to open her eyes so badly. She was usually so pale anyway, but her skin was almost transparent it was so white. The freckles on her nose and cheeks were almost non-existent. She had a hospital gown on and the buttons across the shoulders of the gown were left unbuttoned, exposing her shoulders. He could barely see the freckles on them too. Her hair was down around the back of her neck. Her bangs laid just over her eyebrows almost covering her beautiful green eyes even though they were still closed. She had made a hair appointment to get them trimmed a few weeks prior but had to cancel due to being put on full bedrest. Owen ran his hand over her forehead to push her hair out of her eyes a little. She felt hot and feverish. She had an IV in her left hand and arm. He held her right hand in both of his. He brought her hand up and leaned down to kiss it. He then leaned over and kissed her forehead and then her lips. He wanted her to feel his presence. He began talking to her. "Claire, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but if you can, please squeeze my hand." He waited a few seconds. There was nothing. He knew she had to be high as a kite on the pain meds flowing through her IV if nothing else. He started to tear up again. "Claire. Listen. You have to wake up. You have to get better. You have to fight. You have two beautiful little girls who need their mother. You can't leave them. You can't leave me." He stopped talking for a moment, trying to gain his composure but the next words out of his mouth made him lose it more than he had in the past few hours since she hemorrhaged. "Claire, I NEED you. I can't do this without you, I can't live without you. You're my everything. You have to fight. Fight for me. Fight for us. Fight like you do for the dinosaurs. God, I wish there was a triceratops in here or something right now." He was cracking a joke through his tears, hoping she could hear him. He imagined her rolling her eyes under her closed eyelids at his last comment. Maybe if he told her about Aiden's name change she would hear him and be mad enough to wake up, he thought. "I did something bad, Claire. I know we promised each other we would make all the decisions that had to do with our children together but I had to go above you on this one. Claire, I didn't know if you were going to make it or not. The doctor couldn't give me an answer earlier and I was scared for your life. I needed our baby to have a strong name, one she could carry with her in honor or her mother in case something happened to you. I changed her middle name to Claire. I wanted to name her after you so she would always know that she was named after the strongest, bravest fighter I know and love. Your blood runs deep in her already. She is going to be loud and change the world just like you're doing. Maisie is going to do the same thing. They have the best example of determination to witness every single day. I'm sorry I went behind your back and did this. You can curse me every day for the rest of our lives, just please wake up. Wake up and know who I am when you see me. Your baby is waiting for you to hold her again. And I promised Maisie she could hold the baby, but only after you hold her again, and you know Mais is an impatient little thing! So you have to wake up soon. Please, Claire." He leaned in as close as he could get to her with the bed rails being up. He whispered into her ear, "I love you more than anything in this world." He gently placed a kiss on her cheek and then her forehead again. He stood there for a few more minutes quietly watching her sleep and rubbing her hand back and forth with his thumb.


	39. CHAPTER 39

The nurse came over after a while and told Owen he would have to leave the room so they could finish the transfusion. He did not put up a fight. He ran his hand over her forehead one more time and asked the nurse if Claire was running a fever. The nurse explained that she might be and that it was normal to run one in these circumstances sometimes but that she would check her vitals and keep an eye on it. He leaned down and kissed her head one more time and squeezed her hand before letting go. "I'll be right down the hall if you need me. I'm not leaving you. Ever." Just before he let go of her hand he felt a gentle squeeze. His heart broke into a million pieces. He didn't know if she had heard everything he said before, but he knew she heard him and that she knew who he was. He took that as a good sign on the possible brain damage conversation from earlier. He walked out of the room and stood against the wall. He took a few deep breaths and tried to clear the knot in his throat but he broke down again and covered his face with both of his hands. He was crying so uncontrollably that he knelt down against the wall and crouched there for a few minutes sobbing. His legs were shaking to the point that he couldn't stand anymore on his own. He was not a crier. This pushed him over the edge though. He didn't care if she knocked all of his teeth out, broke his jaw and gave him two black eyes for changing Aiden's middle name, just as long as she woke up and recovered. He needed her. He needed her more than anything in the world. They had their differences, they weren't a perfect couple, but they were a damn good team. He would do anything for her. He would jump into fire for her. He literally did the year before. He would do it again in a heartbeat if she asked him to. And he knew she would do the same for him. He wondered how he lived without her for a whole year after they broke up. The cabin he decided to build for HER must have been what kept him busy enough from losing his mind without her. He finally pulled himself up and listened at the door hoping to hear Claire talking to the nurse but he heard nothing. He walked back to the nursery to hold his baby again. He felt bad for leaving Aiden alone all this time. The nurse kindly allowed him to rock her again for a little while. Aiden woke up and looked up at Owen with sleepy eyes. She cooed a little bit but didn't fuss. Her eyes were so green he felt he could get lost in them forever, the way he frequently got lost in the same green eyes Claire would use to roll at him on an almost daily basis. Holding his newborn baby in his arms was the greatest experience he had ever felt besides holding Claire. He knew he made the right decision in changing Aiden's middle name. He would have to live with the consequences from Claire forever but he knew in his heart he wouldn't be able to live with himself had he not named his baby girl after the amazing woman that carried her under her heart for almost nine months and brought her into the world. "It's a Jurassic world out there, little one...and I don't mean just the dinosaurs. You've got fight and determination in your blood though. Your amazing, badass mother is determination personified so you're going to do just fine." Out of the corner of his eye he saw the nurse give him a guilty look for cursing in front of his newborn but he didn't care. He rocked Aiden for a few more minutes and then headed back to the waiting room to be with the rest of the family. Everyone was getting hungry and restless and Owen told them to go downstairs to the cafeteria and get something to eat. They went again in pairs. Eventually everyone came back and Karen brought Maisie a rice crispy treat and some milk as she didn't want to leave Owen and go downstairs. Karen offered to bring him some food but he was still too emotional to eat anything.


	40. CHAPTER 40

Another hour passed and finally the phone call he had been waiting for came in. It was the doctor again. "Mr. Grady, Claire woke up shortly after the transfusion was complete. She was very groggy of course, but we asked her some basic questions and everything sounded good on her end. We took her down for the MRI and I'm just waiting for the official results to come back from that now. It might be a few hours. They're pretty busy down there in that department. In the meantime, we have moved her to a regular room, but I would keep the visitors to a minimum for now. We've got a lot of the bleeding under control so far, but she is still pretty sedated and tired. She is also complaining of pain so we're giving her some more pain meds through her IV to help ease that. She is in Room 2416 if you and your daughter would like to come up first. We would like to ask Claire a few more questions with you in the room to confirm she is giving the right answers." Owen said okay to everything the doctor told him and notified the whole family of what was going on. He told them he would go up with Maisie first for a little while and then call them to come up two at a time. They were all relieved to hear that so far everything was looking up for Claire. "Tell my little girl I love her," said Claire's dad. Claire's mom was quietly sobbing in her husband's arm. "I will. And thank you all for being here. It means the world to me. She has a lot of people who love her. I'm very grateful to all of you." He grabbed Maisie's hand and walked as fast as he could to Claire's room.


	41. CHAPTER 41

He warned Maisie that Claire would probably look very tired and pale when they got in her room. Maisie took a deep breath upon entering with Owen. Claire was sitting up a little in bed and a nurse was tending to her IVs when they walked in. She was barely awake but looked as though she could fall right back to sleep at any minute. She turned her head a little upon hearing them walk in. She smiled at Maisie and extended her arm out for Maisie to come over to her. Owen stood a few feet away and let Claire and Maisie have their reunion after the long day they had. Claire placed her hand over Maisie's hand on the bed. Maisie looked down at the IVs in Claire's arm and hand and looked a little frightened. Claire could barely speak from fatigue but managed to get a few words out. "It's okay Mais, I'm okay." Owen felt his heart sink into his shoes. Claire was okay. She knew who Maisie was. She was obviously aware of what was going on. Owen could finally breathe again. He still feared the MRI results could show something abnormal, even if it was minor, but he reveled in the moment of watching Claire interact with Maisie. Claire could barely talk from all the medicine flowing through her body, but she looked over at Owen still standing by the door and motioned for him to come closer to her. "Are you afraid to get close to me now? I don't think this new blood they gave me has cooties in it." Claire joked at Owen and he stepped over to the other side of the bed opposite Maisie. He reached over the bed rail and put his hand over hers. She lifted her hand out from under his and placed it on top of his hand and squeezed him. He could have died in that moment just feeling her hand on top of his and knowing she was okay. She leaned her head back on the pillow and turned to face Owen. "I heard you talking to me earlier." He smiled and leaned down to kiss her on the lips. "I know. You squeezed my hand before I left." They smiled at each other. Owen then wondered how much she actually heard from earlier. He figured it was as good a time as any to find out if she knew about Aiden's name change. "So, um...did you hear everything or just the ending earlier?" Claire was too tired to fight and just wanted to hold her baby again. She narrowed her eyes at him and said sleepily, "Oh I heard everything and don't worry, when I get out of this hospital I'm going to kill you." She didn't seem mad, in fact, she almost sounded like she was joking even though he knew she was serious. "Claire, I-" She cut him off. "Owen, it's okay. I understand why you did what you did. I can't say I'm not flattered. But had you done this under any other circumstances I would really kill you. I guess-" Claire took a deep breath and finished her statement. "I guess Aiden Claire it is." She looked over at Maisie and narrowed her eyes at the little girl next to her. "Did you approve of this?" Maisie tried not to smile but she couldn't keep it in and said, "Well I was with him when he did it, but I didn't try to stop him, nor encourage him. I'm staying out of it." Maisie threw her hands up, and Claire laughed as much as she could under the strain of pain medicine flowing through her veins. "Smart girl," she said back to Maisie. Claire took another deep breath and laid her head back on the pillow again. She closed her eyes for a minute. Owen didn't want to leave her side but he knew her parents and his parents and her sister and nephews wanted to see her and the new baby. "Claire, I'm glad you're okay. You really scared me." Claire looked up at Owen and mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to him. She didn't know if Maisie knew the extent of what happened so she kept her response subtle. "Claire, are you going to be in the hospital for a long time?" Maisie was genuinely worried about Claire and it made Claire feel warm and tingly inside. This little girl who she and Owen found in a basement and brought home only a little over a year ago felt like she had a real family for the first time in her life and Claire could see how afraid she was of losing someone close to her again. "I'm going to have to stay here a couple of days but then I should be able to go home." She squeezed Maisie's hand and smiled. "Are you going to help me with the baby when we get home?" Claire knew Maisie was already excited about helping her with "mommy duties". "Yes, I can't wait!" Maisie jumped up a little in excitement.


	42. CHAPTER 42

Owen nudged Claire back over to him to tell her he was going to call her parents to come down to her room to visit for a little while. Right before he dialed Karen to tell her parents to come to the room, the doctor entered. "Claire, how are you feeling?" Claire could barely lift her head from the pillow. "Tired," she replied. The doctor told Owen to hold off on any visitors for a few minutes. "I've got the results from the MRI." Claire was still out of it when they performed the MRI. She didn't even know they had done one. "MRI? On what? For what?" Claire suddenly felt anxious. Owen ran his hand up and down her arm. "The doctor was worried you could have suffered some brain damage due to the loss of so much blood earlier." Claire looked horrified. She felt fine in her head, but all of a sudden she was worried the doctor was about to tell her something horrific. The doctor chimed in with the results. "You lost of a lot of blood from the hemorrhage, Ms. Dearing. It all happened very quickly and you passed out basically and we couldn't get you to wake up for a while. You never stopped breathing on your own but your blood pressure dropped drastically from what it was and it did so very quickly as well. When that happens it can cause stroke, coma, brain damage, all sorts of things. If you would have stopped breathing on your own at some point, you probably wouldn't be sitting up talking on your own right now. You'd be in a different situation. You're one tough cookie though." Owen made a "hmm" sound and shook his head to agree with the doctor. Claire was stubborn and hard headed just like him. It took one to know one. Even in an unconscious state, Claire still wasn't going to let her body take over her mind. "Yeah she's a tough one alright," Owen agreed. The doctor continued on. "Well, your results came back fine. There is no abnormal brain activity or anything that we see that looks out of the ordinary. I would like to ask you a few more questions to make sure your memory is okay though." Claire rolled her eyes at the doctor. She didn't see why she had to go through this again if the MRI results were good. All she wanted was to hold her baby. She wanted to see the rest of her family but more than anything she wanted some time alone with Owen, Maisie and Aiden. She wanted a brief moment with Aiden and Owen by herself. She wanted a moment with Aiden and Maisie. She wanted a moment just with Aiden. She wanted to sleep. Claire was used to working long hours so she figured this would just be like working a day at the park. She was exhausted from delivering a baby a few hours prior and then going through the postpartum hemorrhage and blood transfusion but she trekked on. "Okay," she said sleepily. The doctor asked her a round of questions about what schools she went to as a child, what college she went to, what she did at Jurassic World, what her title was there, when she met Owen, where she lived as a child, who founded Jurassic Park, how old Maisie was, among a few other things. Claire answered every single question correctly without hesitation. Owen confirmed all the answers were correct. "Well, it looks like your brain function is good." Owen decided to play around with Claire. He asked the doctor, "Are you sure? I always thought she had a few screws loose." The doctor gave him a slight laugh and he laughed back while Claire glared at him and rolled her eyes. His Claire was back. He couldn't have been happier.


	43. CHAPTER 43

The doctor presented Claire with a prize for getting all the answers right. "I have something for you for doing so well on the pop quiz." She winked at Claire. A nurse rolled Aiden in the room. She was in a bassinet on wheels. Claire's face lit up. She tried to sit up and the nurse adjusted her bed a little to help her get in an upright position to hold the baby. "I'll be by tomorrow to check on you again, Ms. Dearing. Congratulations on your new addition. She's beautiful." Owen and Claire both thanked the doctor as she walked out. The nurse picked Aiden up and handed her to Claire. Claire immediately held her like she'd been holding babies all her life. She was already a professional. "Just keep her head supported," the nurse said. Claire wanted to say "no shit" to the nurse but she let it go. She was so happy to finally be holding her child she didn't hear anything else the nurse said at that point. The first few hours of a baby's life should be spent in her mother's arms, not in a nursery by herself. Claire felt bad. She expressed this out loud and apologized to Aiden. Owen felt bad for Claire that she felt guilty for something she had no control over. "Claire you couldn't help what happened. You risked your life to have this baby. She will know that as soon as she's old enough to understand. I will make sure of it." Claire looked up at Owen and started to tear up. She glanced at Maisie and then back down at her baby. "Aiden Claire, I love you so much." Owen gave a surprised look. "Oh, are we actually going to call her by both names now?" Claire narrowed her eyes at him again. "No we're not. I don't like double names, they're silly. I just called her that because I wanted to make sure it didn't sound bad. I wanted to make sure you didn't mess up our daughter's name." "Any name that has Claire in it is automatically beautiful," Owen responded with a grin. Claire looked down at her newborn again. The baby was starting to wake up and was getting fussy. The nurse had been checking Claire's vitals during the reunion with the baby and came back over to check on Aiden. "I think she might be getting hungry." The nurse asked Claire if she would like to try to breastfeed her baby. Claire looked nervously at the nurse but said yes. Maisie asked if she needed to leave the room or cover her eyes. Claire felt bad that Maisie never had this experience with a mother. She didn't know if it would hurt Maisie to watch her breastfeed her new baby or not. "Maisie, you do whatever makes you comfortable baby, but you don't have to leave if you don't want to." Maisie smiled and stayed right next to Claire's bed where she had been the whole time. The nurse helped Claire get situated and showed her how to get started. It was awkward for Claire. She didn't think she would need help feeding her baby but she honestly didn't know what she was doing. The nurse helped her adjust herself just right for the baby to latch on. "I'll be right down the hall. I'll come back shortly to check on you guys." She handed Claire a burp cloth to place over her shoulder to burp the baby with once she was done feeding her. She left to give them some privacy. Aiden took to Claire right away and quieted down while she ate. She looked up at her mother with wide eyes like she knew exactly who Claire was. This was a bonding experience like no other for Claire. So many lives relied on her in the past to make the right decisions and she felt like she had failed so many of them. She vowed to herself she was going to protect this life at all costs. She was giving nutrients and life to this tiny bundle of joy from her own body, a body that just a few hours prior, had been in great distress. She looked up at Owen through teary eyes. He watched her breastfeed their child and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. She closed her eyes when his lips met her temple and more tears fell out. Maisie watched in amazement as the baby sucked and cooed at the same time. She had never seen anything so majestic before and she had seen live dinosaurs already in her young life. This was a different experience though. Maisie started to tear up. Claire was so lost in feeding Aiden she didn't notice Maisie crying right next to her. Owen looked over and asked Maisie if she was alright. Suddenly Claire looked at Maisie too and saw her wet eyes. "Sweetie, what is it? Are you okay?" Maisie shook her head yes and said, "I'm just sad you weren't my mom when I was born." That statement broke Claire's heart. She asked Owen to let the bed rails down and lift Maisie up in the bed with her. He did as he was asked and Maisie sat up next to Claire in bed while she continued to feed the baby. Maisie wrapped one arm around Claire's arm and leaned her head on Claire's shoulder. Claire looked at Maisie and said, "Maisie, I love you with all my heart. I wish I could have been your mom too when you were born. But I'm here now. And we're here together. And you will always have me. And I will always have you." Claire didn't know if these were the right words or not. She said the only things she knew to say in the moment. Her words were true and came straight from her heart. Since bringing Maisie home from Lockwood's estate she had grown to love the child more than she ever thought she would. She assumed it would take them a lot longer to feel comfortable around each other and bond, but it happened rather quickly. Claire wanted Maisie to live a normal, happy life. She had been through so much over such a short period of time and Claire and Owen wanted to give her some stability in return. Maisie curled up tighter in Claire's arm. "I love you too, Claire. Thank you." Owen watched the three of them in bed and fell in love all over again. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life, more beautiful than any island or dinosaur he could have ever laid eyes on. He walked away from the bed and made his way towards the window. He didn't want them to see him shed a tear. He wiped it away as quickly as he could and turned back towards them. The baby had stopped sucking and Claire put her over her shoulder to burp her after tucking herself back into her hospital gown. She patted Aiden's back gently and made "shhh" noises against Aiden's ear to calm her down. A few minutes later she burped twice and Claire adjusted her back in her arms again. She told Owen to call everyone to come down. "Everyone? All at once?" Claire agreed. She was exhausted but she figured it would be easier to let everyone see the baby at once. They had waited for hours.


	44. CHAPTER 44

A few minutes later Claire's parents walked in followed by Owen's parents and Karen and the boys. Claire's mom and Owen's mom both ran over and babied Aiden and Claire both. Both of the new grandpas stood back and rolled their eyes at their wives and smiled. Karen cried as she watched her sister holding her newborn baby. She knew Claire better than anyone and this was something she honestly never thought she would witness, and she couldn't get over how beautiful it was. She walked over to Owen and congratulated him and gave him a hug while the grandparents swarmed around Claire and Aiden. "Thank you, Karen. Thank you for everything today." She pulled away from his embrace to face him. "You saved my boys' lives, Owen. I'll never be able to repay you for that. But keeping this family in check for you for one day was the least I could do." She winked at him and walked over to her sister who still had not one, but two little girls in bed with her. Karen glanced down at Maisie and asked, "Maisie what do you think of all this? You think you're going to like being a big sister?" Maisie smiled at Karen and shook her head yes. Claire's mom had to ask, "Can the grandmas hold the baby now?" Claire reluctantly handed the baby to her mother. The new grandmother walked around the room showing off her granddaughter to the rest of the family. Everyone eventually got to take turns holding Aiden. Claire made sure to hold onto Maisie while everyone else had the baby. She wanted her to feel equal to her new sister. Her parents had only met Maisie a couple of times but they treated her as their own grandchild too. Claire didn't want to take Lockwood's memory away from Maisie or try to replace him. Maisie was a special child. She was the first human clone on earth, or at least the first one that Claire and Owen knew about. To everyone else, she was just a kid caught up in a messy animal trafficking situation. No one knew of her real identity except for Owen, Claire and Iris. They decided not to tell their parents for fear they would freak out and try to stop them from taking her in. Nothing could have stopped them from that, however. She shared something very special with them. Not everyone had a bond with dinosaurs the way the three of them did. This was something no one could take away. Maisie was ready to add a fourth person to that bond. "Can I teach Aiden all about the dinosaurs when she's older?" She looked up at Claire and whispered the words with wonder in her eyes. "Yes you sure can, sweetie." Claire gently placed a kiss on Maisie's head and ran her fingers through her soft, brown hair. Karen finally spoke up and asked if Claire was okay after everything that had happened. Owen filled them in on the details. "She's okay. The MRI came back fine. She answered some more questions with no problems. She's still bleeding a little bit but they've got it under control for the most part right now. She can't go home right away because they want to monitor her to make sure she doesn't hemorrhage again or have any set backs from the blood loss or transfusion. So we'll be here a couple of days. But she's going to be okay." His voice cracked at the end. Hearing himself say Claire was okay made him choke up. It was all he prayed for. Everyone stayed for a little while longer until Aiden got hungry again. They left for the night to let Claire and the baby rest. Karen asked Maisie if she wanted to spend the night at the hotel with the her and the boys. Claire told Maisie that was fine if she wanted to go. She knew Maisie was tired and there was nowhere really for her to sleep in the hospital room. She didn't want to leave but Karen reassured her she would bring her back first thing in the morning. "You can spend the night with us. We'll go get some dinner and run by the apartment and get you some clean clothes for tomorrow and come right back in the morning!" Maisie agreed to go with Karen but made one more request for the night. "Can I give Aiden a kiss?" Claire smiled at Maisie and said, "Yes, gently, on her head." Maisie kissed her little sister, hugged Claire and climbed down out of the bed. She walked over to Owen who was sitting on the couch by the window trying to hold his own head up. He picked her up and held her in his lap for a moment. He kissed her on the cheek and said, "Thank you for being my rock today. You were so brave. I love you." Maisie hugged Owen's neck tightly and said she loved him back.


	45. CHAPTER 45

Once everyone was gone and it was just Claire, Owen and Aiden in the room, Owen expressed to Claire how truly terrified he was all day. "Did you think you were going to lose me, Owen?" Claire laid in bed holding her newborn against her chest. "I didn't know, honestly. I prayed for your life and everything. It wasn't an option to lose you, Claire." Claire looked up from her sleeping baby and assured him she wasn't going anywhere. Suddenly Claire realized she needed to tell Zia and Franklin what had happened. Everything was so frantic all day, Owen didn't think to contact either of them and tell them what was going on. The sun had gone down and they had been at the hospital since about 4:15 that morning. Claire asked Owen where her cell phone was. He had thrown it in her bag that they brought to the hospital. The bag was sitting on the couch by the window of their hospital room thanks to Karen who kept up with it all day. Owen dug through it and finally found it at the bottom underneath a change of clothes for Claire, a baby outfit to bring Aiden home in, and diapers. Claire was clearly prepared as usual. He handed her cell phone to her and she noticed she had about twenty text messages from Zia. There was a proposal she was working on and needed some advice from Claire on phrasing. Claire felt bad that Zia was left hanging all day without knowing what was going on. She dialed her number. By this time, it was about 7:00 p.m. "Zia, hey. I'm just now looking at my phone. I'm so sorry!" Zia sounded a little upset but being as Claire was technically her boss she kept her cool. "Where were you all day? You always have your phone next to you in bed. What did you do? Have the baby or something?" Claire chuckled through the phone. "Well actually, um yeah, I did." There was a long pause and Claire heard the words, "No shit!" Owen heard Zia from across the room through the phone and laughed. "I went into labor in the middle of the night and we got to the hospital in time but there were some complications. The baby is fine, but I hemorrhaged after having her and was out for a few hours. They had to give me a blood transfusion and then check my brain activity to make sure I didn't suffer any brain damage from the loss of blood and oxygen." Claire could sense Zia's jaw hanging to the ground over the phone. "Claire, what?" Claire wanted to give Zia the full details but she could barely keep her head up enough to hold the phone in one hand and Aiden in the other. "I'm okay now. Owen knows all the details. I was heavily sedated for a lot of them obviously. Come by tomorrow and we'll tell you everything." Zia knew Claire was close to giving birth but she still didn't expect to hear this out of Claire's mouth over the phone. "Whoa, Claire. Wow, just wow. Well, damn, congratulations, and tell Owen too! I'll come by in the morning before work to see you. I can't wait to meet the baby!" Claire told Zia what hospital they were at and what room they were in and hung up the phone and handed it back to Owen. He took the sleeping baby from Claire's chest and held her in his arms for a while. Claire wanted so bad to lie in bed with Owen and Aiden together. She tried to get him to crawl into the bed with her but it was too small for the both of them and he didn't want to hurt her in any way so he laid on the couch. He eventually placed Aiden back in the bassinet the nurse had brought her into the room in and went to give Claire a kiss. She had fallen asleep already. He was exhausted himself. A new nurse came in a few hours later around 1:30 a.m. to check Claire's vitals. Her blood pressure was slowly climbing back to a somewhat normal range. The baby woke up and was hungry and wet. Owen changed his first diaper in the middle of the night and Claire breastfed the baby again. They were learning together. It was a long first night. They had mentally prepared themselves over the past few months for long, sleepless nights but didn't expect the setback Claire experienced to go along with it. They were both just grateful for a healthy 6lb., 2oz. baby girl who just happened to come three weeks early. Claire had feared a problem would arise during delivery with the baby, but she didn't expect all that. Owen already knew he had another mini Claire on his hands though. That baby was tough just like her mother.


	46. CHAPTER 46

Zia came by the next morning with Franklin in tow. Franklin was afraid of everything, including a new baby. Claire asked if he wanted to hold the baby and he backed up and tripped over Claire's meal tray. Owen decided Franklin holding their newborn probably wasn't the best idea. Zia held Aiden and told Owen the same thing everyone else had told him over the past 24 hours. "Dude, your baby looks just like Claire. Lucky her." Claire laughed and Owen rolled his eyes. "Am I so bad looking?" he asked. "No you're hot, even though I don't play on your team. Claire I'm not hitting on your man by the way, but yeah, Aiden definitely got Claire's eyes and hair." Owen was starting to get a little jealous. The baby didn't have a lot of hair yet, but enough to make out the color. "She has green eyes and we both have green eyes. And her hair is like, you know, auburn. It's kinda brown and kinda red. So she's a good mix of both of us." Owen protested even though he secretly didn't care if the baby looked like him or not. Claire was the most gorgeous thing in the world to him so if their baby looked just like her, he had no problems with that. Zia rubbed it in a little deeper. "Owen, dude, look at the little freckles on her nose though. Where are your freckles?" Claire was enjoying this. "Zia, you should take off work and stay here all day." Zia laughed, Claire laughed, Owen grunted and Franklin hid in the corner under the tv that was mounted on the wall. "I would love to, but I think we might be getting somewhere with that politician from Los Angeles. So I'm going to go pester his office on the phone some more until he gives us what we want. Come on Franklin. Don't trip over your own two feet on the way out!" Claire and Owen thanked them both for coming. "I'm gonna get you guys a gift too, by the way. You kinda sprung this on me at the last minute though so I didn't have time to go find a cute dinosaur onesie yet. Hey Claire, we should get DPG onesies made!" Claire quickly agreed with Zia and sent them off with the task of getting one of the interns to design one and have it printed. "That will be her first photo shoot outfit," Claire teased. She secretly wasn't joking, however. "Zia, remind me to give you a raise when I return to work." Zia laughed on her way out the door and said, "Sure thing, boss!"


	47. CHAPTER 47

The family returned a little later that morning. Maisie finally got a chance to hold Aiden. She crawled in bed next to Claire again and Claire showed her how to hold her arms out. "Make sure you support her head, okay? Be very careful with her." Maisie was in awe of this little person in her arms. She wondered how many people held her when she was born, or if it was just her grandfather, Iris and some person in the lab. Aiden already had about a dozen people hold her since she came into the world. "She's kinda heavy," she said after a little while. The whole family giggled a little because they could see how tiny Maisie was herself so they could see why a baby would be heavier for her to hold than for an adult to hold. Claire felt like the paparazzi was in her room all day. Both sets of grandparents, her sister and nephews were all snapping pictures on their phones. Claire usually hated having her picture taken and never left home without makeup on but in this circumstance she didn't care how she looked. A nurse had brought her a hand held mirror that morning and Owen brushed her hair and pinned it in a ponytail for her. He had never brushed her hair before and Claire looked in the mirror when he was done, surprised that he actually did a good job. She was still pretty weak and even something as simple as brushing her own hair was quite a task for her. Owen found some lip balm in the bottom of her bag and she put some of that on her lips, but other than that, she had no makeup on and nothing fancy to wear except a hospital gown. To Owen she never looked more beautiful. He snapped pictures on his phone too with Claire's instruction to send all of them to her phone as well.


	48. CHAPTER 48

That afternoon the doctor came in to check on Claire and the baby. "Have you been up walking yet?" Claire had not left the bed except to use the bathroom, and even with Owen's help, that was a major undertaking, but even with the nurse's recommendation to stay in bed and use a bedpan, Claire refused. She was still bleeding a little bit but nothing that wasn't normal after just giving birth. She was also still weak from the hemorrhaging and the transfusion so standing and walking was a task she was not up for but she knew she had to do it eventually. Claire tried to get away with a lie. "Yes, I've been walking. I walked down the hall and back this morning." Owen looked at Claire and said, "Where was I when you went traipsing up and down the halls by yourself?" Claire glared at him. He gave her lie away. The doctor laughed wholeheartedly. "Oh Ms. Dearing, you're not the first woman to try to get away with that lie after giving birth." Claire assumed they would give her a little bit of a break since Aiden's birth was followed with some complications but the doctor said the sooner she got up and walked the sooner she would build up her strength again. "Even patients who have had open heart surgery are up walking the very next day. It's important after any incident or surgery to move around to get the blood flow going, especially in your case. You got new blood with that transfusion too so it needs to circulate with the blood you didn't lose so everything can mesh well and you can go home in a day or two." Claire was more than ready to go home. She didn't like needles and having an IV stuck in her arm and hand 24/7 was almost more uncomfortable than birthing a child was. She also didn't like having nurses help her with personal things she felt she could do on her own. She was also ready for a shower but refused to let a nurse help her with that. Owen would be blessed with that task. "We'll work on a shower tomorrow if you do well walking today. You need to build some strength back up before you go standing in water and slip and fall. In the meantime, I'll have the nurse come in shortly and help you get out of bed. You'll have your IV stand to hold onto and Mr. Grady or the nurse can walk with you." Claire was ready to get it over with. The nurse came in about ten minutes later and helped Claire scoot out of the hospital bed. She had on a pair of hospital socks with the grips on the bottom to keep from slipping. Standing was easier than she thought it would be. Walking was a different story. Everything from her waist to her knees hurt, including the wound on her right leg. She had good days and bad days with her leg and of all days for it to hurt, this would have to be the day. She left Aiden in the care of the four grandparents in the room and slowly made her way to the door with Owen. Her legs shook under her. She held her IV stand in one hand and Owen's arm in the other. The nurse was walking along the opposite side to make sure Claire didn't fall or experience any problems while moving. By the time Claire made it down to the nurse's station at the end of hall she had picked up speed and was getting the hang of putting one foot in front of the other again. It felt better to move around than she thought. Claire was never one to sit still anyway. However, running through the jungle in heels all day was still less painful than this was turning out to be. She finally made it back to her room. The nurse and Owen helped her get back in bed. "I'll be back this afternoon for another lap." Claire rolled her eyes as the nurse walked out the door. Owen's parents stayed through lunch and then left to let Claire and the baby rest and bond. Claire's mom didn't want to leave but after Claire's second round down the hall and back, her dad could see she was beat and advised his wife to let their daughter get some rest. Karen left with her parents and took the boys with her. Maisie decided to stay with Owen and Claire this time. She soon curled up on the couch and drifted off to sleep. Aiden, however, decided it was 7:00pm and time to wake up. She got hungry and even after feeding her and burping her she was still fussy. Claire helped Owen change her diaper but that still didn't calm her down. Instead of putting Aiden's footed sleeper back on after changing her diaper, she left her in nothing but her diaper. Claire pulled her hospital gown down lower on her chest and placed Aiden against her skin. She draped Aiden's new baby blanket Owen's mom crocheted for her with her name on it across Aiden's back to keep her from getting cold. She hoped this skin to skin contact everyone talked about really worked. She laid Aiden against her chest so they were facing each other and rocked her back and forth as much as she could in a hospital bed that didn't move. She started singing softly to her baby. Owen had known Claire for years but he never really penned her as a singer. Suddenly he was watching the most beautiful moment of his life take place right in front of him. Who knew the former hardcore, serious workaholic Senior Assets Manager could sing, and to a baby of all things? She was singing a lullaby he had never heard before but the words and her voice singing to their daughter melted him completely. "Dragon tales and the water is wide. Pirates sail and lost boys fly. Fish bite moonbeams every night. And I love you. Godspeed little one. Sweet dreams little one. Oh, my love will fly to you each night on angel's wings. Godspeed, sweet dreams." By the time she finished the first two verses, Aiden was asleep against Claire's chest. It worked. Owen shook his head at Claire in complete amazement. This woman who was once the most powerful person on an island filled with hybrid dinosaurs and 20,000 people every day who ran around in heels and bossed everyone around including him, who then started her own foundation and tried to save the world or at least some of the creatures in it, was now in control again. She held all the power in her hands. She knew exactly what she was doing. This may have been something she never imagined herself doing but she controlled the situation like the professional she was and calmed her restless newborn down within less than two minutes. Owen was amazed but not surprised. Claire spent the past seven months expressing her concerns to Owen about being a good mother to a newborn baby and here she was just putting all her motherly instincts on display for him to see. He had no doubt in his mind about how incredible she was going to be as a mother. Claire fell asleep with Aiden on her chest and Owen fell asleep on the couch with Maisie curled up in his lap. Aiden woke up a few times in the middle of the night but went right back to sleep once Claire nursed her.


	49. CHAPTER 49

The next morning the doctor came in and gave Claire clearance to take a shower with assistance. She advised Claire to let one of the nurses help her but Claire was too modest and talked the doctor into letting Owen help her instead. They entered the bathroom inside their hospital room and Owen gently lifted the hospital gown over Claire's head. It was the first time he had seen her naked body since she gave birth two days prior. She had gained hardly any weight during her pregnancy besides the baby. Her stomach was practically flat already, with a few areas still protruding out. Her hips were a little wider and her breasts were obviously somewhat larger due to the lactation process. Claire looked down at herself and back up at Owen with disappointed eyes. "It's a good thing we won't be getting intimate for the next 4-6 weeks or so while I recover because you won't want to have any of this anyway." Owen didn't care what she looked like. She was gorgeous to him no matter what. "Claire, first of all, I think every inch of you right here and right now is flawless. You just had a baby. You don't need makeup, heels and a flat stomach to impress me." He didn't try to get flirty with her as she could barely stand on her own without assistance, but he did point out how much he liked her new "post baby" hips. There was only a stand-up shower in the bathroom for her to bathe in and Owen held her up and helped her bathe at the same time. There were plenty of moments in their past when she was grateful to have a strong, muscular boyfriend to keep her safe, usually when they were being chased by man-eating dinosaurs, but the longer she tried to stand in the shower even with his help, the quicker she realized how weak she was and again just how grateful she was that he could hold her up and keep her from getting hurt. As he helped her bathe, the conversation took a more serious turn. "Claire, watching you sing our baby to sleep last night was the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed." "I was practicing when you were outside working on the cabin for the past several months." Claire smiled at him with teary eyes as he gently caressed her body with soap and warm water. He made her feel so loved. She spent so many years of her life assuming she would have one love in her life and that would be her career. Now she had two loves in her life: her family and her career. She was still getting used to the fact that she was a mother and had a family to go along with her work. She couldn't wait to get home and start her schedules for feedings and naps around Maisie's school schedule and her work schedule. Schedules were just one of the things that fueled Claire. They gave her something to be in control of. The way she took control of her fussy baby the night before proved to Owen that she would find a way to navigate through her new life with two children, him and her job. Claire was always ready, always in control. He helped her shower, trying not to get too wet himself. He emerged from the bathroom with Claire wearing a fresh hospital gown and clean grippy socks. They walked back into their room and found Maisie standing over Aiden who was still asleep in her bassinet. Aiden had her hand wrapped around one of Maisie's fingers and Maisie was talking to her about dinosaurs. Owen held Claire up as they walked back from the bathroom to the hospital bed. They kept their eyes on Maisie and Aiden the whole time. Maisie looked up at them and smiled. "I was just telling Aiden about Styggi and how you guys escaped the prison down in the basement and found me." Owen and Claire smiled at their older child and then at each other. Aiden woke up shortly afterwards and wanted to eat. Claire breastfed her and burped her while the nurse and patient care advocate tidied up the bathroom and brought fresh towels and blankets for them. She went for a few more walks up and down the hallway with Owen that afternoon. Her strength and stamina were building tremendously and her bleeding had remained under control since getting the Misoprostol and the blood transfusion.


	50. CHAPTER 50

The doctor gave Claire the clearance to go home the following day. She signed the release papers and the next morning Claire, Owen and Maisie finally returned home with their new addition. The rest of the family stayed in town for a few more days. They came by and marveled over the baby in between feedings. Aiden slept through most of the hype. Within the first two weeks, Claire had her baby on a feeding schedule. Owen was once again amazed but not surprised. Aiden woke up every few hours to eat and Claire already had the alarms set on her phone to get up a few minutes in advance, even in the middle of the night. Aiden would sleep in a bassinet in Claire and Owen's room next to their bed for the first few months anyway so it didn't take long to wake them up once she started crying in the middle of the night. Claire made a miraculously fast recovery. Being at home rather than in a hospital provided her more comfort and privacy which helped fuel her determination to get her strength back as quickly as she could. There were no nurses or doctors to help her with anything so she knew she had to get strong and stay strong to take care of her baby. Owen was an amazing help. He remained on "daddy duty" 100% of the time. It was almost a competition to see who could hold Aiden the most. Maisie helped change Aiden's diaper for the first time about two weeks in and quickly realized that was not her favorite big sister chore. Aiden loved the water. Her parents bought her a baby tub that fit inside the kitchen sink to bathe her in. She would calm down every time Claire or Owen placed her in the tub with warm water. Claire loved the smell of the Johnson and Johnson's baby oil so much that one day Owen had to stop her from rubbing too much all over Aiden's body. "I think you rub more of that baby oil on her than you rub that vanilla scented lotion on your own body." Claire ignored him and kept applying the oil to the baby's body. "It makes her so soft though. And the lotion makes my skin soft. I like soft things." Claire did like soft things. She liked the way her baby's soft skin felt against her chest, she liked the soft music she would play and sway to in order to get Aiden to fall asleep sometimes. She liked the soft hands of her older child who would hold her hand sometimes as they walked around with Aiden outside in her stroller for some fresh air. She liked the soft peach fuzz on her baby's head that was turning more red by the week. She also liked the soft kisses of the man that held her safe and tight every night as they drifted off to sleep with their miracle baby asleep in her bassinet next to them.


	51. CHAPTER 51

The first few months were a happy adjustment, and the three of them were finding their groove with their new addition. Claire recovered from her setback quickly and was busy running around like her old self in no time after the baby was born. Aiden for the most part was a good baby. She really only cried when she was wet or hungry. She loved to be sung to, although Claire's voice turned out to be a little more soothing than Owen's. She started smiling early, at around two months old and sleeping through the night...almost. Her favorite time to wake up was around 4:30 a.m. and by the time Claire fed her, burped her and sang her back to sleep, Claire was wide awake and would lay in bed with Aiden on her chest and watch her and Owen sleep. She had gone back to work after eight weeks at home with Aiden. Franklin's mom ran a daycare in the building next door to the warehouse that housed the DPG so Claire was able to enroll Aiden there and run down every few hours to breastfeed her growing baby. She wanted her to interact with as many people as possible, starting early so she wouldn't be a timid child. She wanted her to start out strong and independent. Owen had been doing some side work carving wood and metal signs for stores and the general public. It started out as a hobby that he did in his free time, but a friend of his had come to their cabin one day and saw a giant intricate "M" and "A" cut out of wood and suggested he try to do it for money so he started freelancing. The letters were painted to match both of his girls' bedrooms and were eventually hung on their walls. He rented a small space in the city close to the DPG and Maisie's school and bought some equipment to carve with and spent a few days a week creating signs for families, companies and took special orders. Since his work did not allow him to be home every day with Aiden, this was another good reason to put Aiden in daycare. Claire was working hard during the day, making some strides with the DPG legislation, her baby was right next door to her which made her feel safe, Maisie was happy and continuing to do well in school, and Owen was thriving with his new side work. They were falling into their new routine nicely. They moved from Claire's 2-bedroom apartment to a 3-bedroom condo in the same building so they could have a nursery for Aiden. Although she had a crib in her nursery that Owen built for her with his own two hands, she still spent the first few months of her life sleeping in Claire and Owen's bedroom in a bassinet next to Claire's side of the bed. Claire would carry her into her nursery to breastfeed her when she woke up in the middle of the night so that she did not wake Owen up and so that she could rock Aiden in the rocking chair Owen handmade for her.


	52. CHAPTER 52

One night Aiden was a little fussier than usual. Maisie's room was right next to Aiden's nursery and she heard her three month old sister crying and got up and walked in to find Claire in the rocking chair trying to get Aiden to latch on to her breast to eat. Maisie walked over and stood next to Claire. The room was dark and Claire didn't see her walk in until she put her hand on Claire's arm. She jumped a little and Maisie apologized for startling her. "That's okay, sweetie, I'm sorry the baby woke you up." She was still struggling to get Aiden to latch on so she switched sides. That finally seemed to work. Maisie looked down at her sister and watched her look up at Claire with those big green eyes. Maisie could have sworn Aiden's eyes got greener and her hair got redder as it grew in over the last three months since she was born. She told Claire how beautiful Aiden was again and how much she looked like Claire. "I know Owen has green eyes too, but I still think Aiden looks more like you, Claire. She's such a pretty baby." Claire leaned in and kissed Maisie's head and said, "thank you, sweetie, she is a cutie, isn't she." Claire was not prepared for what Maisie said next, however. "I wonder who I look like." Maisie kept her head low and continued to look at her little sister who was sucking like she was afraid someone else was going to take the breastmilk away from her. Claire had her head down looking at her baby as well, but when Maisie spit those words out, she lifted her eyes to the crib across the room and then looked up at Maisie. Her heart broke again for Maisie. She knew she had to think quickly to say something that would not hurt her older child. She honestly didn't know who Maisie looked like. Of course she was a clone of Benjamin Lockwood's daughter, but outside of that, whose DNA besides Lockwood's did she share? Claire didn't know what else to say so she said the only thing she knew was true. "You look like you, Sweetie. And you're beautiful. You're an intelligent, bright, amazing, special little girl and I'm so glad you came into my life." Claire meant every single word. Maisie gave Claire a slight smile and said, "I kinda worked out to be your practice child so you would know what to do when the baby came." This upset Claire. She could see Maisie took it lightheartedly but Claire didn't want Maisie to ever feel like a "practice" child. "Maisie, you did not come into my life to be the 'practice' child, okay? I didn't even expect to have another child, especially not this soon after adopting you. So I don't want you to ever feel that way, okay? The last thing I expected when I went back to that island with Owen to try to save the dinosaurs was that I was going to end up back at your grandfather's house, be part of an animal trafficking case and come home with you. But I'm so eternally glad that I found you, although I wish it would have been under better circumstances. I wish I would have given birth to you myself but you are mine either way. Owen and I fought very hard with the courts to make sure of that. You are his too. You are ours. Even though you did not grow inside of me and I did not give birth to you myself, you are every bit as much mine and Owen's as this baby is, and you need to know that. Owen and I don't want to take the place of the people who were in your life for the first ten years, okay? We just want to be a part of your life going forward. We couldn't be more grateful that you came into our lives Maisie. Owen and I love you with all our hearts and we don't want you to feel like anything less than our daughter." Maisie nodded with teary eyes and wrapped both of her arms around Claire's left arm. Claire continued on, making sure Maisie knew how much she was loved. "Maisie, I didn't always believe this, but after everything that has happened in my life over the last 4-5 years, I believe everything happens for a reason. There is a reason the Indominus escaped at the park a few years ago. There is a reason I lost my career there and the park shut down. There is a reason Owen came into my life. It was all to show me what's important in life. It's not numbers on a spreadsheet. It's not status or power. It's the relationships you make, whether they be with other human beings or with dinosaurs or any other living creatures. It's about love and integrity and trust. I have all of those things in my life now because of Owen. And because of Owen I have you and I have Aiden." Claire looked down at Aiden who was still sucking and looking up at her mother with wide eyes listening like she understood everything Claire was saying. Claire looked back to Maisie and leaned her head against her older child's and whispered, "Sweetie, you came into my life when I needed you the most. I didn't know I needed you at the time, but I did. You have taught me so much about love, life, strength and courage. You are such a strong, beautiful little girl and I can't imagine everything you've gone through in the past year or so, and yet you've still come out on the other side. I can't imagine my life now without you in it, Maisie. I love you so much." Maisie started sobbing and kept her head against Claire's. She never felt like a practice child and now she regretted joking about it. She felt like she let Claire down, making Claire think she wasn't a good mother to her. And that couldn't have been farther from the truth to Maisie. "Claire, you're the best mom I could have ever asked for, and I love you so much. I am learning how to be strong from you. You teach me bravery every day. I want to grow up and save the dinosaurs too, not because of my grandfather but because of you. He always talked so fondly of you and I hoped I would get to meet you one day. I never dreamed I'd get to live with you and have you be my adoptive mother. You're my hero, Claire. And you're my mom. And I couldn't be more thankful to you for giving me a home again and a real family." Claire was now sobbing along with Maisie. She didn't realize she had such an impact on the little girl she had only known for a little over a year. To hear Maisie say she wanted to grow up to follow in Claire's footsteps and save the dinosaurs made Claire feel like she had done something right. She had wronged so many people for so many years, and here was this little girl of all people who saw the good in her. She used to believe she didn't have any good in her. She lost her way for so many years working at the park. Owen saw through her though. Maisie saw through her. They both forced her to see through herself, to find the person she used to be and the person she wanted to be. In that moment she felt like the things she was doing to try to right the wrongs actually left an imprint on someone. The little one in her arms even still looked impressed. "I thank God for you every day, baby," She told Maisie. She kissed Maisie on the forehead and sent her back to bed, assuring her Aiden should remain quiet for the rest of the night. "Go back to sleep Mais. I'm going to burp this greedy little thing that's still eating and she should be good to go for the rest of the night." Maisie said goodnight and kissed Claire and Aiden both on the cheek before going back to her bedroom. Claire pulled Aiden away from her breast which upset the infant for a few seconds. "Hey, you can't still be hungry. Save some for breakfast!" Claire whispered. Aiden quickly calmed down when Claire held her over her shoulder to burp her. She patted the baby's back for a few minutes and after three good burps she tried to settle Aiden back down for the night. Claire continued rocking Aiden, now lying against her chest. She sang softly into her baby's ear to calm her whimpering down until she was sound asleep in her mother's arms. Rocking and singing to the child she was never supposed to have had become one of the greatest joys of her life. She stood up and swayed back and forth, continuing the rocking motion as she carried Aiden back to hers and Owen's bedroom. She placed the softest kiss on her tiny baby's head full of orange peach fuzz and laid her down in her bassinet next to the king sized bed she shared with the man who helped her bring that miracle into the world.


	53. CHAPTER 53

Owen was facing Claire's side of the bed, sleeping soundly with one arm resting over his pillow. Claire crawled in bed as gently as she could, trying not to wake him. She laid on her back and pulled the covers up to her waist. She had already lost most of the baby weight she had gained during her pregnancy. After working out with Owen a little bit, eating healthy and walking every morning, she was almost back to her pre-baby weight. She ran her hands over her flat stomach and stared at the dark ceiling. She still marveled at the fact that she was a mother. It still sounded weird to hear coming out of her mouth sometimes. Suddenly she felt a larger hand on top of hers. Owen scooted closer to her in bed and stretched his arm across her stomach and clasped his fingers through hers. She turned her head to face him, and was met with his lips on hers. She thought she managed to come back to bed without waking him, yet there he was awake and giving in to the scent of vanilla on her skin, mixed with the lavender scented baby wash that rubbed off on Claire's neck and chest from where the baby had just been hanging out. "I love how her scent rubs off on you when she's against you," he whispered into her ear. Claire hummed in agreement and kissed him back. "She okay?" He asked. "Yeah, she was a little fussier tonight than usual but she ate and burped and should be good to go for the rest of the night...hopefully." Owen moved his lips to Claire's ear and nibbled a little. Claire wanted him to keep going but she needed to tell him about hers and Maisie's conversation. She rolled over onto her side to face him and he wrapped his arms around her. "Owen, we need to talk." She could see his eyes open to look at her in the moonlight reflecting into their bedroom from the window by the bed. "Uh oh, what did I do?" Claire gave Owen a sly smirk and assured him he did nothing wrong. "No, it's nothing you did. Maisie came into the nursery while I was feeding Aiden. We talked for a little while, and Owen?" He opened his eyes wider to let her know he was paying attention. "I don't want Maisie to ever feel like she's any less ours just because we didn't conceive her ourselves and because I didn't give birth to her myself. She got the feeling she was here to be a practice child for us until we had Aiden. I explained to her that this baby was completely unplanned and that she is in no way here for us to practice on." Owen giggled a little. He knew Maisie was smarter than that, but even she sometimes needed a little bit of encouragement. "Was she upset?" He could sense Claire's breathing was picking up by the rising and falling of her stomach under his hand, and he knew she was starting to stress over it. "No, she wasn't upset." Claire told Owen everything she said to Maisie and he felt bad that he missed out on hearing it in person. "Wow, Claire. If she doesn't feel loved after that, then I don't know what to do." Maisie made it clear how much love she felt and Claire told Owen what Maisie said in return. "Then there you have it. She's fine. Come here." He pulled Claire in closer and wrapped one arm under her head and the other all the way across her waist. His hand moved slightly down to her hip but he stopped there. He decided to lighten the mood by joking around with her. "Hey, where are those new post baby hips you promised me?" Claire tried to laugh at him but she was so exhausted only a "hmm" would come out. "Oh they're there. Trust me. I think I got rid of everything else but I guess the hips are here to stay." Owen loved to get her riled up, something he promised her he would bring back to their relationship again once she had the baby. He dug in a little deeper with his words. "Babe, you had those hips before Aiden was even conceived. Don't blame your gorgeous body on our baby." Claire opened her mouth wide in shock at his statement, but she knew he was just messing with her, even though it was true. She rolled over to face him, slapped his chest and curled up as close to him as she could. "Owen, you're an ass sometimes, you know that right?" He smiled and whispered into her ear, "You wouldn't have me any other way." He could feel her smiling into his neck. He kissed the top of her head and a few minutes later they drifted off to sleep for the few hours they had left until it was time to get up.


	54. CHAPTER 54

The next day Owen and Claire took Aiden to get one of her many rounds of first year shots. Claire remembered the first set Aiden got at six weeks old and how fussy she was for days afterwards. She dreaded this task, knowing no one at home would get any sleep for the next few nights. Outside of this, Aiden was still a happy baby for the most part. She still cried when she was wet or soggy and was quick to let everyone know when she was hungry. The older she got the more she tried to fight her sleep though. If Owen was at home with her, he would bounce her around the apartment on his shoulder and sing to her. They found out early that she liked music. However, it took him twice as long to get her to fall asleep as it did Claire. Claire was convinced it was his singing voice that kept Aiden awake instead of soothing her to sleep. Claire loved to tease him about it. Owen tried the skin to skin contact method with Aiden by removing his shirt, but she knew her mama's touch when she felt it. Owen was amazed at how Aiden instantly knew when Claire held her that she was "Mommy". Babies have a sense about people, something Owen learned quickly after Aiden's birth. His youngest was clearly a mama's girl. Playtime belonged to him, however. Aiden smiled at him so big when he would lift her up and fly her around the room over his head. She loved playing with Maisie as well. Both Owen and Maisie enjoyed playing on the floor on a big blanket with Aiden. She was already starting to push herself up at four months old, and Owen was running around trying to baby proof the house every chance he got. Claire loved playing with Aiden too. Their play time was every night after dinner. Most nights Claire would be found on the couch with her bare feet propped up on the coffee table in front of her with Aiden in her lap. Aiden loved to be bounced and again, Claire had the special touch for that too. Most babies at that age mimic what they see other people doing and Claire would smile big at her baby and get a huge gummy smile in return every time. Claire worked hard during the day, but worked even harder as a mother at night. Maisie enjoyed helping Claire and Owen, even helping to give her a bath a few times. They were a family. A real family. Claire and Owen were still open to getting married, but in the meantime, they refused to let that or the lack of biology and genes get in the way of calling themselves a family. Claire and Owen caught themselves watching each other with Aiden and Maisie and being left completely unable to stop smiling. There were still sleepless nights occasionally, difficult schedules to maintain and a lot of give and take on everyone's part, but overall, the four of them couldn't have asked for more. The only other thing Claire wanted was justice for the dinosaurs. Every once in a while she worked a late night at work, but she promised herself she would be there for her family as much as she was there for the dinosaurs, if not a little more. She was confident everything would fall into place eventually, especially with the funding provided by Lockwood. She was eternally grateful for the monetary donation he made to her foundation, enough to help her keep moving forward with the safe capture and relocation of the dinosaurs. Getting politicians on board to help secure the missions was the hard part but Claire was always good at persuading people. Almost every sponsorship deal at Jurassic World was sealed by her gift of words and presentation skills. She was confident in her abilities to eventually win over the law makers and help save the creatures that taught her so much about love and life in the first place.


	55. CHAPTER 55

That night Claire was trying to put Aiden down for bed and the newborn just wasn't having it. Every time Claire thought she was asleep she would put her down, but Aiden would just wake up and cry again. Owen tried rocking Aiden to sleep as well, but nothing worked. They both knew she was probably not feeling well from the shots she got earlier that morning. The combination of being poked by needles and the medicine itself took its toll on the infant and not even singing to her seemed to help calm her down. Claire had already bathed her in her lavender scented baby wash hoping that would help calm her down too, but she was still fussy as ever. Claire finally put Aiden in bed with her and Owen and laid her down in between the two of them. Aiden continued to cry until Claire started rubbing her stomach and "shhhshing" her calmly. Owen propped himself up by the elbow on his pillow and watched again in amazement at how this woman who at one time didn't even know what to do with two teenagers for one day was now unintentionally showing off her motherly instincts and creating the most comfortable environment for her child. HER CHILD. He sometimes still couldn't believe it himself. Claire Dearing was a mother. She had proven herself a changed person. She had changed so much before even becoming a mother to Maisie, let alone Aiden. He continued to look down at the miracle they created together with wonder in his eyes. Aiden's crying finally turned into a slight whimper, but Claire kept rubbing her tummy in circles to continue calming her. Aiden seemed to like the free tummy massage she was getting. Claire had propped herself up by the elbow on her pillow as well. She and Owen watched their baby slowly fall asleep in between them. Claire thanked Owen again for everything he gave her. "Owen, you know how I told you last night that I told Maisie everything happens for a reason?" Owen looked up from his sleepy child and at his whole world next to him. "Yeah," he replied. "Well I meant it. And I really do believe it. I used to be a skeptic, Owen. I used to think that kind of thinking was ridiculous. But what if you had never come into my life? Would I still be working at a theme park? Would I still be in my own little workaholic world, stuck in an office all day running numbers and never seeing life or nature or anything else worth experiencing? Would I still be single with no life outside of my job? Would I still see those beautiful, majestic creatures as nothing more than assets to make money off of?" "Claire-" he tried to stop her. She was rambling. "No Owen, seriously. What would my life be if you hadn't come into it? Would I still be single? Would I still be lonely?" Owen changed his gaze from admiration to sadness. He didn't realize just how lonely she was on the island before she met him. He assumed she had boyfriends or people that "kept her company" when she wasn't working. He never saw her as someone who slept around and she wasn't. But he never thought she was one to accept loneliness into her life either. "Were you really that lonely before you met me?" Claire started to feel her eyes water up with tears. "Yeah, I was. I worked 10-12 hours a day, sometimes more, six days a week. I would have worked on Sundays too but they made me take at least one day off, and even then I spent most of my Sundays working from my apartment. I loved my job, but I was so separated from what was truly important and in return I took it out on the few guys I actually went out with. We never made it past two or three dates because I either wouldn't put out for them right away or because I was so focused on my work I didn't know how to have fun outside of it. I was cold and boring to them. They saw me as nothing but a cold hearted bitch. I didn't allow myself to have a life outside of my work. My work was my life. It was my passion and I was good at it." Owen threw her one of his crooked smiles she loved. "You were damn good at it. You ran the Hell out of that park. No one else would have been able to do a tenth of the job you did for as long as you did." His words made her feel good. Not many people acknowledged how hard she worked at the park for so many years. He continued on even though he knew she wasn't finished with her speech. "Claire, we had some major differences in the beginning. The attraction was there from the first time we saw each other, but-" She cut him off. "Speak for yourself, I wasn't attracted to you upon first glance!" She laughed and he grinned back and finished his thoughts out loud. He actually liked it when she played around with him like that. "But we didn't like each other. We had very different views of how things should have been at the park. It took a major life event to bring us together. But I think we would have ended up together either way at some point, Claire. I think when you have a connection with someone it never really goes away. And we had a connection from the very beginning. We may not have known what it was at the time, but it was there. I only wish I could have been there sooner to take away your loneliness. You might have been the cold boss everyone said you were, but you never deserved to be lonely. I'm sorry you felt that way for so long." Claire kept her eyes on Owen and her hand on her baby's tummy the entire time. "Owen, I don't know what would have happened had you not come into my life, but I'm glad you did." He loved to make her smile when she was sad, so he tried to come back from the joke she made about not being attracted to him upon their first introduction. "You probably would have met some other nice guy who would have given you a chance, but he wouldn't have been nearly as rugged and good looking as me." There went his crooked smile again. She smiled back, just what he was looking for. Claire ignored Owen's sly comment and finished showing him her gratitude. "You came to show me what was important in life. You made me a better person. You forced me to see life and live life. You also gave me a chance when no one else would. You loved me when no one else would. I am forever grateful to you for that. So thank you. Thank you for going back to that island with me last year. Thank you for not thinking twice about bringing Maisie home with us. Thank you for being willing to give us another chance." She looked back down at Aiden who was finally sound asleep. "And thank you for this beautiful miracle. She is here for a reason too. I wasn't supposed to have children, Owen. I wasn't supposed to be able to conceive a child on my own. If she's here to teach me more about love, she's already done what she was put on this Earth to do. I believe her purpose is even greater though. She will do something amazing with her life. So will Maisie. I didn't know I could love something or someone so much. I didn't know if I would ever be able to love a child of my own the way they deserve to be loved, but Maisie and Aiden proved me wrong on so many levels." Owen could see how emotional she was. He leaned over and kissed her and placed his hand gently on top of hers so that they were both holding their baby together. "Thank you for giving me a second chance too. I know those board shorts were pretty embarrassing to go along with your little black dress on our first date." Claire burst out laughing through her tears. "Yeah, you really showed out, Mr. Grady." She hadn't called him that since the day of the incident at the park. Claire got up and carefully lifted Aiden off the bed and put her into her bassinet next to them. The baby moved slightly when Claire laid her down but she didn't wake up. Claire crawled back in bed and snuggled into Owen's arm. He wanted to talk to her about something else he had his mind on, but he could tell she was exhausted. He figured it could wait one more day. He pulled her chin up to his face with his hand and kissed her. "I love you, Claire. I hope you're not lonely anymore." Claire looked into his eyes and saw a single tear fall out. She reached up and wiped it away before closing her eyes and laying her head on his chest. "I love you too, Owen. And I'm not lonely anymore. I haven't been for a long time thanks to you."


	56. CHAPTER 56

The next morning everyone was busy bustling around the condo getting ready for work, daycare and school. Owen really wanted to talk to Claire about something that had been on his mind for a while. He tried to talk to Claire about it after breakfast while Maisie was in her bedroom getting dressed for school. Claire was running ninety to nothing making lunch for Maisie and gathering diapers and clothes and a million other baby essentials to throw in Aiden's diaper bag for the day to take to daycare. She still had to get dressed herself and was stressing out. Aiden woke up at 4:30am right on schedule, and by the time 7:00am rolled around she was sleepy again. "Owen, will you take her please? I've got to get ready. Bounce her in your arms around the house. She likes that. She just ate so she should doze off after a few minutes." He took the baby and did as he was told and within 10 minutes, she was asleep. He put her in her car seat and before he could turn back around Claire was behind him, dressed for work, ponytail perfectly pinned up, black skinny dress pants, white blouse and heels on. He looked her up and down as he stood up straight to turn around and face her. "You look very nice today." "You say that every morning," she quipped. "Well it bears repeating every day," he shot back. They had been together close to four years with the exception of the year they were split up, but he still had a crush on her, especially when she wore her "corporate boss" clothes. He may have told her in the hospital after giving birth that she didn't need heels and makeup and fancy clothes to impress him, and she still didn't. However, he certainly didn't complain when she dressed up for work either. Even though they still had their moments of fighting for control, he loved how powerful she was and how she exuded that power through something as simple as her clothes. Claire called for Maisie to come on before she was late for school. Owen offered to take both the girls to school and daycare for Claire so she could get to work on time. "Owen, you're a lifesaver. What would I do without you?" She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Oh, you'd still make it work. If you can manage hundreds of dinosaurs a day, you can manage two kids. You don't need me." Owen winked at Claire. He knew he was right though. Claire loved a challenge. Whatever obstacle was in front of her, she always found a way to find a solution to the problem. She would never allow herself to "need" a man or anyone for that matter. She made sure from the time she started at Jurassic World that she would be able to sustain and support herself. However, she did need him, though not financially. She needed him in a different way. She loved him. She had a family with him. She had a family in him. He was her anchor. He and those two children were her world. Without him she never would have seen the dinosaurs for what they really were to begin with. "I love you." She gave him one more peck on the lips and ran out the front door, her heels clicking on the linoleum floor of their apartment foyer on her way out. He was reminded of the Claire he first met on the island: focused, determined, dressed up, powerful, in charge. She was still all of these things now, but with a few extra layers added on. She was still rough around the edges when she needed to be. But there was also a softer side to her that melted his heart. Every time he heard her singing Aiden to sleep, or calming Maisie down after a nightmare, or kissing him ever so gently but passionately during the most random moments of their day, he was reminded of how many times he almost lost her and how he would do anything in his power to keep her safe and make her happy. She was his world too. They were each other's world. They hit a few speed bumps in the beginning and along the way in the middle, and he knew there would always be obstacles to face here and there going forward between them, even if they were small. However, Owen knew they would be able to tackle anything together. They had each other's back, always. He gathered Maisie and Aiden into his truck and drove into town to deliver them to school and daycare. He spent the rest of his day working in his warehouse making a sign for a new pizza restaurant that was opening in San Francisco, all the while planning his words out carefully in his head for what he wanted to discuss with Claire when they both got home that evening.


	57. CHAPTER 57

Owen got so focused on the details of the sign he was working on, he completely lost track of the time and finally looked down at his watch a few minutes before six o'clock. He turned off the carving machine, grabbed his keys and dashed out of the warehouse. On his way home he called Claire to make sure she was off work and Aiden was picked up from daycare. He knew Maisie would grab a ride home from school with a friend if the two of them had to work late occasionally. They had a set of keys made for her shortly after she came to live with them in case she ever needed to get inside on her own for emergency purposes. Maisie answered Claire's phone on the third ring. "Hey Owen, it's Maisie." Owen chuckled a little. Any time Maisie answered Claire's phone she always started by saying it was her instead of Claire. This tickled Owen because it was clear it was Maisie. She still had somewhat of a British accent and sounded nothing like Claire on the phone, but yet she still felt the need to make sure he knew the difference each time. It was so cute he didn't have the heart to tell her she didn't need to clarify it for him every time. "Hey Mais, are you home? Are Claire and Aiden home with you?" He sounded a little worried. He didn't have any missed calls from Claire on his phone and she had planned to pick up the kids that night after work anyway so he hoped he wouldn't be in too much trouble for not calling to say he was still working. Claire had been supportive of his new side work. She was always amazed at how he could make anything with his hands, including an entire cabin! "Yes, they're both here. Claire asked me to grab her phone because she's changing the baby's diaper." Owen was relieved, one that Claire had the kids, and two that he dodged having to change a dirty diaper." Maisie relayed a message to Owen that quickly shut down his excitement. "Yeah, Claire said you get the next dirty job!" She laughed and he grunted into the phone, sending a jab right back to her. "That's fine. And you'll be my little assistant since you think it's so funny." She quickly stopped laughing and he told her he would be home in a few minutes and hung up the phone.


	58. CHAPTER 58

Ten minutes later Owen walked through the door of his and Claire's apartment and heard the most heavenly sound in the world. It was the sound of laughter...baby laughter. He turned the corner from the foyer into the living room, only to then see the most heavenly sight in his world. Claire was sitting on the couch wearing a DPG raglan baseball shirt and a pair of black full length leggings. Her ponytail was loosened a little from how she had it styled earlier that morning, and her bare feet were propped up on the ottoman in front of the couch. Maisie was sitting on the couch next to Claire still in her jeans, youth sized DPG shirt Claire had made for her and her favorite black high-top Chucks. In Claire's lap, propped up in the bend of her knees was Aiden, wearing a onesie that said "Mommy says I'm cute and she's always right." Claire was making popping sounds with her mouth and playing peek-a-boo with Aiden, causing the four month old to giggle uncontrollably. The more Aiden laughed, the more Claire laughed. Maisie was laughing as quietly as she could, as she was filming their playtime on Claire's cell phone. "Ahhh...boo!!" Aiden lost it every single time. Owen watched and listened from the doorway of the living room, smiling so hard his cheeks were starting to hurt. He finally came over and sat down on Claire's other side. He put his arm around Claire, gave her a quick peck on the lips and leaned in to join in the fun they were having. "Boo!" He tried but his "boo" wasn't as peppy as Claire's and his baby looked at him like he was a little crazy. Claire let out a burst of laughter so loud she almost choked. "Aiden, is Daddy silly?" Claire was getting a kick out of Owen's failed attempt to humor his daughter. "Ahh...boo!" The baby laughed again uncontrollably. Owen finally gave in to the cuteness and couldn't control his laughter any longer. The three of them laughed harder each time Aiden laughed. She had started smiling early on, but this was the first time he had heard her actually laugh whole heartedly. He had also never seen Claire laugh so hard in all the years he had known her. In that simple moment on the couch, he saw a glimmer of pure joy on her face unlike anything he had ever seen before. He was reminded yet again how this same woman he had known for so long spent years of her life convinced she didn't want children, only to change her mind and then find out she couldn't have any of her own, and then only to end up with two children, one conceived on her own, within just over a year. If anyone could change, Claire Dearing was proof of that. Owen then wondered if what he wanted to discuss with her was a mistake. He had to get it off his chest. However, it would have to wait until after playtime, dinner and bedtime. He didn't want this moment they were having on the couch together to end.


	59. CHAPTER 59

They ate dinner which consisted of Owen's famous grilled cheeses and some tomato soup. Aiden swung in her portable swing next to Owen that he and Claire often carried from room to room throughout the apartment. After dinner, Owen cleaned up the kitchen so Claire could give Aiden a bath in her baby tub that fit in the kitchen sink, and Maisie finished her homework at the dining table. All the fun she had laughing with Claire earlier in the evening had made Aiden sleepy, and the lavender baby wash only helped intensify her fatigue. After Aiden's bath, Claire took her to her nursery to nurse her and put her down to sleep for the night. Maisie took her bath and went to bed around 8:30. She had state testing the following day at school and Owen and Claire suggested she go to bed a little earlier than they normally let her stay up so she could get plenty of rest for the next day. She reluctantly went to bed early, only with the promise that once the testing was over at the end of the week that she could go back to her normal new bedtime of 9:30 on school nights. She was not spoiled, but she had the two adults that took her in and adopted her wrapped completely around her finger. They promised her the normal routine would commence the following week and she skipped off to bed and shut her door for the night.


	60. CHAPTER 60

Owen went to bed and turned on the television in the bedroom while Claire took a shower. She emerged from the master bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. She opened a drawer in her dresser and pulled out a pair of underwear and a tank top to sleep in. Standing in front of Owen without blocking the television, she pulled the towel off and revealed her body before putting her undergarments on. He watched her intently trying to act like he was watching the nightly news. She had her back turned to him the whole time and never picked up on his wandering eyes. Her breasts were a little larger since having Aiden, mainly from still breastfeeding. Her hips were a tad wider since giving birth as well. They were his favorite thing on her to touch, curvy and soft, always smothered in vanilla scented lotion. Her skin was so pale, but smooth, and he could see the freckles that covered her shoulders, chest and makeup free face from across the room. Just watching her casually dress for bed made him feel like he needed a cold shower to cool down a little bit. She had made him feel hot and tingly all over without even trying. This was fortunately something he had been used to for years. She walked back into the bathroom to hang her towel on the back of the door, brush her teeth and take her birth control pill for the night. She had gotten back on the pill after having Aiden at the doctor's recommendation to help with her monthly cycles considering the relapse she had in the hospital with the hemorrhage. It wasn't so much to prevent another pregnancy, as the doctor told Claire that Aiden was a miracle baby and the chances of naturally conceiving another miracle baby were even slimmer the second time around. If she were to conceive another child naturally it more than likely would not survive the first trimester, resulting in a miscarriage. Claire was a little apprehensive at first about going back on the pill right away after giving birth because she didn't want any medication or chemicals in her body that would affect her breast milk and essentially harm the baby. Dr. Lloyd assured her it was safe and would not affect her breast milk or cause any harm to Aiden. She prescribed her a pill that only had progestin in it which was a safer version of the medication. Claire walked to the bed with the pill sitting on the tip of her tongue and took a drink of water from the bottle on her night stand. She then crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her waist. Before she had a chance to grab her reading glasses and one of her many books on animal rights and activism from her night stand Owen turned off the television and rolled over to face her in bed. Still sitting up, he placed his hand over hers in their bed and began what he hoped would end up a mutually positive discussion. "Claire, I want to talk to you about something." She looked at him with confused eyes. "What is it? Is everything okay?" He assured her everything was fine and continued on. "Yes, there is nothing to worry about with anything. I just want to, um...run something by you. But first I need to ask you a serious question." "Owen, spit it out. What is it? You're starting to worry me a little bit." He took a deep breath in front of her and did his best to "spit it out" like he was told to do. "Claire? Um," he had prepared himself for days to discuss this with her, and suddenly he didn't know how he wanted to get it out. He finally just asked the question. "Do you want more children with me one day?" Claire looked at him blankly for a few seconds, not sure how to respond. Her mind was going ninety to nothing trying to figure out what brought all this on in the first place. Did he want more kids? Did he not want more kids? Why was he asking her this question? She was confident in her answer but she didn't want to hurt him either depending on how he felt about the subject of more children. She was also confident that their chances of conceiving another child naturally were even less likely to happen than the first child, like the doctor had told her. Like Owen, she tried to say something but words failed her in that moment. "Owen, I uh," He watched her fumble over her thoughts and words for a few seconds then took both of her hands in his. She finally managed to spit some words out. "Owen, why are you asking me this?" She answered his question with another question. Great, he thought. Now they both had to come up with answers instead of just one of them. He tried to keep the both of them focused. "Because I want to know how you feel about it. Are you happy with the way things are or do you want more?" Claire knew her answer. She took a deep breath and prayed that it lined up with the answer he wanted. "Owen, you want me to be completely honest with you?" "Yes." He told himself that he would be on board with whatever Claire decided but he hoped if she wanted to have more children it would be in a way that would be safe for her. He couldn't stand the thought of almost losing her again. "I am happy with Aiden and Maisie, one hundred percent." Her answer was clear, but he had to make sure. "So you don't want anymore children one day?" Claire thought her answer was pretty black and white. She wanted to glare at him, but she tried to be mindful of what was going through his head and didn't want to upset him. Instead she just reiterated what she said. "That's correct. I love you and those two little girls more than anything, but I don't think I could go through with having anymore, whether it be naturally or adopted. And I don't think I could fully give myself to another child and still keep my career at the same time. I may be selfish for wanting both, but I feel like what we have right now is perfect and I'm able to be there for our children and still have my work too. I feel like we've made it work, and I'm grateful for that. I never thought I could have both, and now that I see I can, I'm happy, but I don't think I could have both if we had another child. I'm finally getting somewhere with the activism legislation I'm trying to submit to Congress and everything, and trying to maintain that during the day and have plenty of family time at night and on the weekends. I like things the way they are right now." Owen was relieved that she must have thought about this too at some point and had considered her own health in the matter as well. "Claire, I am on board with you on this. I know your pregnancy with Aiden was rough, especially towards the end and then the hemorrhaging, and I just can't go through with almost losing you again like that." He started to ramble and Claire just needed to know if he wanted the same things she did or not. "Owen, did you want to adopt another child one day then? Is this why you're asking me all this?" He scooted closer to her in the bed. "If you wanted to adopt another child one day, I would have been okay with that, but I am perfectly happy with what we have now too. That's why I wanted to know. And I want you to be able to continue your work to save the dinosaurs. I don't ever want to take your passion away from you. You've found a way to make it all work, career and family. I'm proud of everything you've done and everything you stand for." Now that her answer lined up with his, he needed to explain his plan of action to help her keep their family at four. She gave him a slight smile and looked down at the sheets and back up at him as he moved closer to her. She could tell he was up to something. "Claire, I want to do something for you, for us, to make sure our family stays just as it is." Claire was highly intelligent, book smart and street smart. But his lack of ability for getting to the point forced her to continue wondering without a clue as to what he was getting at. "Owen, what do you want to do?" He took a deep breath and quickly planned out his words in his head before letting them leave his lips. Backing up his reason for his plan would be easy. Actually saying the plan itself first would be the hard part. This would be a fight for control. He didn't want to upset her, seeing as how she needed to be in control with so many things. She spent the past year with no control over her body. He wanted to have control over his body, only to protect her. He hoped she would see it the same way. "Claire, I want to get a vasectomy." Claire was not expecting that. She had no idea what he was about to say, but she certainly never thought it would be that. "Wait, what?" If she looked confused it was because she was. "I want to get a vasectomy and here's why." Before he could continue she threw her hands in the air and cut him off. "Wait, wait, wait, wait! Owen, you don't have to do this. It's-" He worked this hard to finally tell her this, he wasn't going to let her interrupt his reasoning behind it. "Claire, listen, just please hear me out. It's ninety nine percent effective towards preventing pregnancy. That combined with the state of your reproductive health will pretty much ensure we don't get pregnant again since that's what we both want. That is still what you want, right?" She just told him it was. "Yes, that's still what I want, Owen. But why go to these extremes?" "Because Claire, if it happened the first time it could possibly happen again. It's not about not wanting more children. If a child fell into our lap again I would love it like I love those two beautiful little girls down the hall. It's about your health. You struggled so much with Aiden, and I don't want to put you at risk of that again, even if the chances of you getting pregnant again are at one percent. There's still that one percent chance."


	61. CHAPTER 61

It took Claire a few minutes to digest everything he was saying. When she realized he was doing this for her and not for himself, her eyes started to get teary and she wondered again, what she did to deserve him. He would be taking away a piece of his manhood, all to protect her health. Most women "made" their husbands or boyfriends get a vasectomy, or at least that's what they told people, and here he was offering to get one to keep her healthy and safe from harm. "Claire, I love you. I want to do this to protect you. We won't have to worry about protection anymore or worry if something gets through. You won't ever have to worry about a miscarriage. I won't have to worry about you. I can't go through that again. I just can't." His voice started to shake and his words trailed off at the end. Claire reached back down for his hand and squeezed it tightly and leaned in to rest her head on his shoulder. The poor man sounded like a broken record telling her over and over again how he couldn't stand the thought of almost losing her again. She placed her other hand over his hand she was already holding and lifted her head off his shoulder to kiss him. "Owen, I don't know why you go to such extremes to show me how much you love me. I mean, building a cabin wasn't enough?" She smiled at him and rested her head against his. He knew they could both handle dinosaurs together or apart, but he needed comfort in knowing she would always be there either way. "Claire, let me do this, please." He whispered it, knowing that if he said it any louder his voice would crack again. "Owen, you don't need my permission. This is very big of you, taking away a piece of your manhood?" Owen didn't quite see it the same way Claire did. "Claire, they're not cutting anything off on the outside." He chuckled a little, which made her do the same in response. "I would hope a real man wouldn't see it that way anyway. I'm not afraid to do this to show my love and protection for you." Claire could think of a few moments in their lives together where he certainly did not act like a real man. But since going back to the island and falling back together with each other, he had proven himself to be nothing but a real man to her. He was strong but vulnerable, powerful but passionate, tough but insecure sometimes. Being a combination of all of those things was what Claire felt a real man was. "Owen, again, you don't need my permission. But if you want to do this, I support you." "I'll call tomorrow and make an appointment," he said. Claire couldn't hide what this meant to her. "The fact that you're doing this for me means a lot, more than you..." She trailed off as she started to tear up. If this wasn't love, she didn't know what was. She cupped her hand over her mouth to try to keep from crying uncontrollably. Suddenly they heard the baby crying in her nursery. Owen leaned in to kiss Claire and went to Aiden's room to retrieve their child. He came back a few minutes later with the infant curled up against his chest, sleeping. "I think she just had a little nightmare, she's okay," he whispered. Claire got out of bed and walked over to their dresser Owen was standing next to. He wrapped one of his arms around Claire and she rested her head next to her child's head on Owen's shoulder. They stood there in the dark bedroom in each other's arms gently rocking their baby together. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness Claire reached up and placed her hand on Aiden's back and rubbed it gently a few times up and down before letting her hand settle on top of Owen's hand that was resting under the baby's bottom to hold her up. He kissed Aiden's soft head and then kissed Claire's head. She was still sobbing a little when she looked down at her little one and whispered, "I love this." Owen smiled down at the two of them. "Us rocking our baby together or our family the way it is?" "Both," Claire replied. She wished Maisie was with them in that moment, but she would have to settle for her older child being safe and sound asleep down the hall in her own bedroom. Besides a happy ending for the dinosaurs, Claire honestly couldn't have asked for more. She didn't believe in fairytales or fairytale endings but this was pretty close. She knew every day going forward would not be this perfect. Claire was not a pessimist, but a realist. Owen was the same way. They knew they still had some things to work out. But they knew how much they loved one another and vowed to make things work for the sake of their children first and then themselves.


	62. CHAPTER 62

They spent a few more minutes relishing in the beautiful moment they were having with their baby. Claire gently placed a kiss on her baby's cheek and then leaned up to kiss the man who taught her so much about love and life. His lips crashed into hers softly but passionately at the same time. The kiss lit something in Claire that she had been feeling for a while. She and Owen had not been completely intimate since before the baby was born and Claire felt ready to experience Owen becoming one with her again. Most doctors recommend waiting about six weeks after giving birth to have sex again, but Claire's doctor advised her to wait a little longer due to the postpartum hemorrhaging that took place after Aiden's birth. She wanted to make sure Claire's body had plenty of time to recover from the birth and the hemorrhaging before engaging in any sexual activity again. Owen had been great about everything, not once pressuring her into anything before she was ready. She had felt fine for some time and was ready to be close to him in that way again. "I think she's down for the count, Owen. Will you go put her back in her crib?" Aiden had just graduated to sleeping in her own nursery only a few nights before, sleeping almost through the night already. Even her pediatrician was impressed by how well her sleep was progressing for such a young infant, and she gave Claire and Owen the green light to go ahead and put her down in her own room at night. Plus her nursery was right next door to their room so they were only a few feet away from her at all times. The first time parents of a new baby still both woke up a few times a night and checked on her, their overprotectiveness getting the better of them.


	63. CHAPTER 63

Owen took Aiden back to her nursery and returned to their master bedroom a couple of minutes later to find Claire back in bed under the covers waiting for him in the dark. He crawled in bed next to her. She was lying on her side and he scooted up behind her to spoon her. As he wrapped his arm around her waist she placed her hand over his and curled her fingers through his before shifting back around to lay on her back so she could better face him. His tousled hair and piercing green eyes made her melt as she scooted a little closer to him. She leaned in to kiss his neck and then moved her way up to his lips. She looked like the kind of woman who would prefer a clean shaven guy but she loved the way his stubble felt against her cheek every time she kissed him or he kissed her. He was so sexy. His strong muscular chest and arms gave her goosebumps every time she held him. With their hands still clasped together she guided his hand further down her waist to her hip and then back up. When his hand almost reached her breasts she stopped and let go of his hand. "Claire-" he sighed into her ear. She could tell she was getting him worked up. She was so in love with him. She found herself fighting to admit it to herself for so long, especially before they even broke up, but she was finally in a place where she was tired of fighting, tired of trying to hide from it or run from it. She stopped fighting the second he raced to her side to place a rag over her slashed leg and tried to help her get up. Instead of being the stubborn person she was good at being, she let go of everything and kissed him, feeling a sweet release and weight off her shoulders, only hoping he felt the same way, which he did. She feared losing him to another dinosaur disaster but he feared the same thing for her too. She knew they could make it through anything though, especially together. She finally felt like she had her person. He was her person. He was her man. He was her rock, her anchor, her partner, her everything. Yes, they were an unlikely pair. Yes, they were proof that sometimes opposites attract. Yes, there would always be battles for control, they both knew that. But Claire knew nobody would ever love her as much as Owen Grady did, and she couldn't see herself loving anyone else as much as she loved him in return. She felt his love every day, but she was ready to feel it again in the passionate, physical way that started everything for them to begin with.


	64. CHAPTER 64

Claire sat up in bed and crawled on top of Owen. She straddled his waist with both legs and leaned down to kiss him gently on the lips again. She took both his hands in hers and pulled his arms up around his head before crashing gently into him. As she pulled away he moaned her name again. "Owen, I love you." Their eyes had adjusted to the darkness again and the moonlight shining through the bedroom window helped him see her majestic green eyes staring down at him. He looked up at her in return and said, "I love you too. Have I ever told you you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen?" Claire leaned down to kiss him again. She bit his bottom lip and through gritted teeth replied, "You tell me more than I deserve to be told." He smiled and let go of her hands so he could wrap his around the small of her back. He started to say something but she placed her index finger over his mouth. "Owen, make love to me." The chivalrous gentleman that he was, he had to ask, "Claire, are you sure you're ready? I don't want to hurt you." She was more than ready. "Owen, I've been ready. I'm fine. And we'll continue to use protection until after your procedure and the clearance that everything is good down there. You won't hurt me. I promise." He was more than ready as well, but never said anything because he wanted her to heal properly and thoroughly first. He wanted her to be ready. Now that she was, he pulled her into him a little tighter. "Okay," he whispered into her ear. He ran his hands under her shirt up her back. She sat back up on top of him and pulled her tank top off over her head and lowered herself back down. He then sat up, pushing back her up with him until they were both upright. He cupped her face with both of his hands and kissed her long and hard. She wrapped her arms around his back, pulling his T-shirt over his head too, and letting her short nails dig into his skin a little as he moved his kisses down her neck and onto her freckled shoulders. He continued making his way up and down her entire body with his lips and hands before laying her down beneath him and making love to her in the gentlest, purest way he could. They both needed it more than they realized. Their relationship had evolved into so much more than just casual sex. Making love meant so much more to both of them now. There were so many more layers to their relationship that weren't there in the beginning. The bond they had was so much stronger now than they ever had before. They made their "first time again" last as long as they could before melting into each other's bodies and falling asleep in each other's arms for the rest of the night.


	65. CHAPTER 65

The next day Claire and Owen got up and got the kids wrangled for school and daycare. Claire put Owen in charge of Maisie, while she nursed and dressed Aiden. They dropped the kids off and went about their day at work. Owen made an appointment to see a doctor about getting snipped. Claire busily scrambled some of her volunteers together to present a new proposal to some legislators that sounded interested in some of the things the DPG was trying to secure funding for. Things seemed to be moving in the right direction. Franklin revamped the DPG's website and Zia had been instructed to go out in the field to check on a few of the smaller herbivores that had been sighted in the surrounding areas to get stats on their health conditions. For the most part, the dinosaurs that she could come in close contact with seemed to be healthy. Claire enjoyed putting on her heels five days a week and pushing herself, her employees and her volunteers to work as hard as they could to make the best decisions possible for the dinosaurs again. She felt powerful in her position. She knew it was not about power anymore, but she couldn't help but love feeling in control in her role of trying to secure federal funding for the dinosaurs. She felt like she mattered again, not only to her family but to the community that started it all for her back in her teens. This is what she was truly meant to do. Running a theme park was fun, exciting, highly stressful and tiring but she loved every aspect of it. However, once she realized how far she let herself drift from what truly mattered she vowed to never let that happen again. She was essentially the same ole Claire. She was the boss, she was in charge and she loved her job for all the right reasons now. Gaining control of what would eventually happen to the dinosaurs gave her something to fight for every day. She still thrived on that ambition. That part of Claire would never change, but she also thrived on turning it off at the end of every day and coming home to spend time with her family. The weekends at their cabin were her favorite. It was so beautiful to experience nature and fresh air with her children and the man that introduced her back to a world outside of an office. Claire had the best of both worlds. She was no longer married to just her career. She never knew having a family would be something she would want and could juggle with a full-time job. There were days that had their struggles but she relished in climbing over those mountains too. Claire was happy, truly happy for once in her life. She enjoyed the challenges and the easiness. She learned from Owen and her children to try to take one day at a time instead of trying to plan out her life years in advance. It seemed to be working for her. All of the greatest things that came into her life came unplanned to begin with. She never planned to have a second date with Owen, but she did. Everything in between the first date and now led to this. She never planned to rescue and adopt a clone child, but she did. She never planned to get pregnant, especially after being told she couldn't have any children, something that broke her heart. But once again, she did. She defied the odds. She never planned to save the dinosaurs, only to work alongside them through the glass of her theme park office, but she did. She was still saving them one day at a time. The dinosaurs were saving her. It all started with them. She felt it was her duty to give back to them what they gave to her. Claire would never change. She and the dinosaurs would always be molded together. The dinosaurs brought the humans she needed into her life. She was surrounded by love. She didn't take it for granted. She saw how rare it was. She never thought she would have it to begin with.


	66. CHAPTER 66

That evening after dinner, Claire and Owen spent some quality time with their children in the living room. Owen and Maisie sat on the floor by the coffee table working on Maisie's history homework and Claire sat next to them on the rug Indian style with Aiden propped up between her legs. Aiden was pushing up on Claire's knee trying to sit up already. "Little girl, you are only four and a half months old! You can't sit up yet." Claire looked down at her infant with wide eyes. Aiden looked up at her mother like she knew what she just said to her. She gave Claire a big smile and started bouncing up and down in Claire's lap, excitedly. "She's my daughter too but she definitely came out of you, Claire. She'll be walking in little baby heels before she's one!" Owen winked at Claire, but got Claire's famous eye roll followed by a smirk in return. Owen reached over and tickled Aiden's tummy until she started laughing hysterically. Claire and Maisie couldn't hold back their laughter. The sound of her baby's laughter melted Claire's heart in more ways than she would ever be able to describe. Owen then reached around Aiden and tried to sneak in a tickle around Claire's waist. "I will knock you into Neverland, Owen! Don't you dare!" Claire didn't like to be tickled and Owen knew that. Maisie decided to take up for Claire. She snuck up behind Owen and tickled his neck. He squealed like a tiny kitten and Claire laughed so hard she had tears running down her cheeks. He jumped up and backed away from them looking more frightened than when Wheatley had a gun to his head in the truck at Lockwood's estate. "Babe, you trained raptors for a living and you're afraid of a little tickle?" Claire couldn't contain her laughter. Owen actually enjoyed watching her get a kick out of seeing him freak out like a child over being tickled. When he first met her she was always so serious about everything. She didn't know how to have fun. It warmed his heart to see how relaxed she had become since Maisie and Aiden came into their lives. He purchased something for Claire a long time ago and hadn't been able to find the right moment to give it to her. He also had something specially made for her recently that he wanted to give her from the girls too. As he sat there watching her sit on the floor with her two children playing so joyously, he couldn't think of a better time to present her with the gifts he bought. There was nothing romantic about the location, the music or the way in which he intended to show her what he bought. It was just a random evening at home, but he couldn't keep the gifts in his sock drawer any longer. Claire wasn't one for mushy, overly romantic scenes anyway so he hoped it would be okay. "I'll be right back." He left them to continue playing on the floor in the living room and went to his and Claire's bedroom and retrieved two jewelry boxes from the bottom drawer of his dresser. He usually helped Claire do the laundry and knew she hated folding socks so he felt his two gifts were safe from her ever finding them in there.


	67. CHAPTER 67

He returned a moment later with the boxes in his back pocket. He knelt down next to Claire and pulled the first one out. It was a long, narrow navy blue box with gold trimming around the edges. Claire and Maisie hadn't even looked up from playing peek a boo with Aiden. Claire was completely infatuated with her children. He nudged her arm. "Hey, I have something for you." Claire looked up from her baby and saw the box in his hand. "It's actually from the girls and I." Claire felt her jaw drop a little and she sat back up and placed Aiden back in between her legs so her infant wouldn't fall over. Claire placed her hand over her mouth. "Owen, what is this?" "Just open it." He held his hand out for her to take the box from him. Claire gently lifted the top off the box. Inside was a simple gold chain with a thin gold bar attached that read "Maisie and Aiden" on it in the most elegant cursive etching. It was very similar to the same necklace she wore often, the one he had known her to wear since he first met her on the island so long ago, only that one had a plain bar with no writing on it. Claire looked down into the box with tears swelling up in her eyes. "Oh my God, Owen! It's beautiful." "Here, let me take it out of the box for you." Owen removed the box from her hand, gently unhooked the necklace from the back of the box and motioned for Claire to turn her head around so he could put it around her neck and fasten it in the back. She pulled her ponytail to the side so he could see what he was doing. His hands were not as dainty as hers and fastening small pieces of jewelry was not one of his specialties but he executed the task with no major problems. She turned back around and placed her hand over the necklace that fell perfectly across her chest and collar bone. With tears still in her eyes a little she leaned in to give him a kiss and said, "I love it, and I love you and our girls so much. Thank you." Maisie cleared her throat waiting for Claire to thank her too. Owen let her help him design the necklace at the jewelry store one afternoon after school and she so innocently wanted credit for part of it. Claire noticed Maisie's hint and made sure to thank her as well. "Thank you too, Mais, you did good." Aiden was still beaming and bouncing around in Claire's lap. Claire held out her arms to hug Maisie. Maisie kissed her hard on the cheek. "Come here, kid!" Maisie ran to give Owen a hug too. "Hey, where's my kiss?" She giggled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek as well.


	68. CHAPTER 68

Owen let Claire marvel at her necklace with her girls' names on it for a few minutes. He then sat down on both of his knees next to Claire. Once she was distracted with the girls again enough not to notice what he was doing, he pulled the other box out of his back pocket and shoved it in his front pocket. Maisie noticed what he did but continued playing with Aiden so as not to lead Claire on. Owen had told Maisie of his intentions to propose to Claire and that he had the ring since before they broke up. He made her promise she wouldn't say a word to Claire. She was a little surprised when she saw him with the ring, as she expected him to give her a head's up before popping the question to Claire. Once he had everything situated in his pocket he nudged Claire again. When she turned to face him he leaned in to give her a long, slow kiss. "What was that for?" She asked. "Just because," he replied. Maisie could see the beads of sweat slowly making their way along his forehead. He had expressed his concern to Maisie before about Claire accepting his proposal when the time came since he knew how untraditional she was. Maisie kept trying to reassure him that Claire would say yes, and he believed in his heart that she would. There was always that little part of Claire that was unpredictable though. He figured there was no time like the present and began trying to spit out the question he had wanted to ask Claire for such a long time. "Claire, what are you doing on June 12th?" Claire looked at him like he'd lost a few marbles. It was only January and even though she was great at organizing and planning things out in advance, she didn't have a clue what was going on in June or why he would ask her such a strange question. It didn't occur to her that June 12th was the day they fell in love a few years ago at the park. It was the same day the Indominus Rex incident blew up in their faces and their lives were changed forever in many ways. Owen had marked that day as the "anniversary" of their relationship even though they never really celebrated an anniversary of being together in years past. "I'm getting my car detailed that day, going to the grocery store after I get off work and doing another blood drive for the Red Cross, why?" She was being sarcastic. She didn't even know yet what day of the week June 12th was, assuming that she would be at work of course. "Who the Hell knows what they're doing on a random day five months from now, Owen?" He loved her even when she was being a smart ass. But he knew, despite his being an ass too half the time, that she still loved him right back. He was ready to burst her bubble for being so sarcastic with him. He took a deep breath and pulled one knee out so that he was knelt down on one knee in front of her. He pulled the box from his pocket and opened it. When they talked casually about marriage in the past, Claire made him promise never to buy her a huge diamond engagement ring. She didn't wear a lot of frilly jewelry and said that big stones and diamonds would just get in her way. She said she would be fine with just wearing a band or two bands, one to signify the engagement ring and one to signify the wedding ring. Owen did as he was told. Inside the box was a gorgeous band with smaller diamonds encased all the way around the entire ring. He held it out in front of her and she gasped. "Well I was hoping on that random day five months from now you'll marry me and make me the happiest, luckiest guy in the world." Claire was speechless for once in her life. She knew this was coming sooner or later but she did not expect it on a casual school/work night while hanging out with her kids after dinner. He completely surprised her and she genuinely loved it. Owen pulled the ring from the box and said, "May I?" She sobbed and shook her head "yes" and he slid the ring on her left, ring finger. He then took both of her hands in his and said, "Claire, June 12th is the day we almost lost each other for the first time and it's also the day we fell in love. That day changed my life. That's the day you came into it for good and that day lead to this one, and I want to spend the rest of our days, months and years together loving you the way you deserve to be loved. Will you marry me, Claire?" Claire couldn't contain the tears that were falling from her eyes and cheeks. He still had her hands in his. "Yes." She shook her head "yes" as she said the word. It was the word he wanted to hear. "Really?" He was so happy he had to make sure he heard her right. "Yes, I will. Yes!" Maisie grabbed Aiden out of Claire's lap and sat her in between her legs on the floor so Claire and Owen could embrace. The little girl felt like she was part of a real family for a long time, but this sealed the deal for her. She was ecstatic and gave them their moment together. Claire practically leaped into Owen's arms and hugged him first, then kissed him, long and passionately. When she finally pulled away from him, both of their faces were wet with tears. Some of her tears rubbed off on his face and some were his own. "I love you so much, Claire." His voice started to shake a little. Hers was as clear as day. "I love you, Owen." She placed both of her hands on his face and went in for another kiss.


	69. CHAPTER 69

They spent the next few minutes crying together while Claire admired her ring and tried to recover from the shock of everything that had just happened. Claire noticed something about the ring that was unique. It had tiny flecks of stone or rocks in it amongst the diamond inlays. "What are these, Owen?" He hoped she wouldn't think the added touch was too over the top. "They're flecks of dinosaur fossils. I had a fossil someone gave me at the park when I first started working there. It's of a triceratops. I know that was the first dinosaur you saw with your own eyes when you first came to the park. And the dinosaurs essentially brought us together. They're the reason we're here. They're the reason Maisie is here and technically Aiden too. So I had a small piece of the fossil shaved down and inlaid into the ring to signify what brought us together and part of what binds us still to this day." Claire looked down at the ring astonished at what Owen just said. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. It was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen and the most beautiful gesture she could ever imagine. Who know this guy was such a romantic? "Owen, this means so much to me. Thank you. I didn't realize June 12th was the day we fell in love. That day was such a whirlwind." Owen lifted his finger to his temple and said, "I've had that date stored up here since the day it happened. I told myself if I was ever lucky enough to get to call you my wife, I wanted it to be on that same date." Owen kissed her again. He then apologized for the not so romantic proposal setting. "I'm sorry this wasn't more romantic. I wanted to do something else in a pretty place or something but I just couldn't wait anymore. I hope you understand." She leaned in to him still with wet eyes and whispered, "No, it was perfect. There is nowhere else in the world I'd rather be right now so I can't think of a more perfect place you could have done it. You did good, Babe. Thank you. I love you so much." Suddenly Aiden started getting fussy in Maisie's lap. "I think she wants the attention back on her," Maisie jokingly remarked. Claire motioned for Maisie to bring her back over to her and she placed her back in Claire's lap. "Come here, kid," Owen motioned for Maisie to sit next to them on the floor. She sat in between Owen and Claire with Aiden still in Claire's lap. The baby perked right up as soon as she was back in her mother's arms. "That's a mama's girl right there!" There was a tinge of jealousy in Owen's remark. Claire held their baby in the air above her head and said, "Tell Daddy that Mommy can't help it if she is just better at peek a boo than he is!" She lowered her child back down on her knee and then looked at her other daughter and now fiancé and then back at Aiden. She started referring to herself in the third person to her four month old. "Daddy isn't the only lucky one in the room. Mommy is also very lucky. Lucky to be alive, lucky to have you and your big sister and your daddy in her life. Lucky to live in a world where dinosaurs are still living and breathing." Claire started to choke up again. "Lucky to get to experience everything she never thought she would. Having you, your sister and your daddy in my life are the greatest gifts I have ever been given." She looked over at Owen once again, leaned her forehead against his and said, "thank you for everything you've given me." The miracle of life...something Claire at one time in her life didn't appreciate, then learned to, then fought for, then had taken away from her, then got blessed with after all. She wrapped her arms around both of her children while Owen wrapped both of his arms around her. Claire turned Aiden around in her lap to face her and gave the first order of business for the upcoming wedding to both of her girls. "I guess we've got a wedding to plan. Tell Daddy noooooo board shorts!"


End file.
